Such a Sad Love, Deep in Your Eyes
by sailormajinmoon
Summary: What ever happened to Alice? What happens when Storybrooke gets two new strangers? What connects these people to the town? Find out here!
1. Chapter 1: There's Such A Fooled Heart

**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time, this is just for fun. I only own my OCs.**

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Chapter 1: There's Such a Fooled Heart

_New York City_

A enchanting tune played throughout an apartment, its source being a music box that had a figure on it. The figure was a woman in a beautiful white ball gown spinning around to the music.

The, currently, only occupant of the apartment hummed the tune from where she was in the kitchen, preparing grilled cheese sandwiches. The occupant was a female; she had shoulder length brown hair that framed her face. She was wearing a pair of jeans and baggy purple graphic tee, her feet were bare as she was not planning on leaving her apartment at the moment. She was waiting for her brother to come visit after soccer practice.

**SLAM**

"I take it something's wrong," She called out, her brown eyes flickering towards the main door.

"Fucking coaches-" The boy groaned. He was a tall fifteen-year-old, with blonde hair and hazel eyes. He wore a green soccer jersey, black shorts and black sneakers.

"Oi! Language, Kyle!" The girl snapped as she placed the grilled cheese on a plate.

"Fine!" Kyle sighed as he sat down at the kitchen table, "The _stupid_ coaches decided to sign the team up for a tournament that takes place during the school break. I wanted to use that time to spend it with you, Kat."

"Is that so?" Kat muttered before setting the plate on the table before siting across from her brother.

The two sat in silence for a bit as they ate their grilled cheese. As they ate, Kat thought about something. By the time they finished, the brunette had come up with something.

"Hey, Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"How long is you break?"

"'Bout a month."

"'Kay. How's this sound, I'll talk to your coaches and get them to let me take you to the tournament matches, and in between, we'll go on a road trip of sorts."

"… Really?" Kyle perked up, happy with the idea.

"Sure, kiddo, I'll go call your coaches and then Uncle Tobi while you go get a map and pick out where you wanna go." Kat said as she stands up. She walks over to the phone while the teenager goes and looks for a map in the apartment.

_**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Jefferson looked outside of his mansion with his spyglass. The clock in Town Square had begun ticking again recently. Ever since then, ever since Emma Swan, the town's new sheriff, had entered he had recalled even more of his life before Storybrooke.

He remembered the time he spent with Grace, who he had left, and his wife, who he had lost. He remembered how he met his wife and how he lost her. Even now, it hurt to remember her.

"My Alice…" He muttered as he watched 'Paige' playing in the school's courtyard, "you would have loved to see how Grace has grown."

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I hope you liked this chapter, even if it is short. Please note that this story may become AU depending on what goes on during the show. (In other words, if they explain what happens to Alice, this story will be considered AU) Also, I would like to mention, as I did on my deviantArt post of this chapter, that this is also a slight crossover with Labyrinth. The only reason I did not put this into a crossover category is because the characters from the Labyrinth only take an important role for a short time, it's mostly a Once Upon A Time fic. Reviews would be appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2: In Search of New Dreams

Chapter 2: In Search of New Dreams

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Emma Swann sighed as she walked out of Granny's, cup of coffee in her hands. She had not been all too well recently as her friend and roommate was currently under arrest for possibly killing someone. Though Emma highly doubted it, as Mary Margaret barely looked like she could hurt a fly. Even so, it hurt badly to think of someone who she considered… family as a murderer.

**VROOOOM**

The blonde beauty looked up at the sound of an engine. In her line of sight was a motorcycle. At first, Emma thought it was August, but realized it was not him as the motorcycle had a sidecar and there were two people on the motorcycle.

"Excuse me?" The driver called out, their voice muffled by their helmet. The driver was clad in jeans, a black leather jacket that was zipped up, black gloves, and black biker boots. The passenger wore a brown leather jacket that was zipped up, navy gloves, jeans, and work boots.

"Y-yeah?" Emma stuttered, a bit shocked to see some random couple so early in the morning, especially, she noticed the plates on the bike, when they're from New York.

"Where's the nearest gas station?" The driver asked as they moved the visor on their helmet, revealing the feminine face beneath it.

"Around the corner, four blocks from here." Emma instructed.

"Thanks." The driver nodded before revving up her engine and driving off.

Emma watched as the motorcycle turned the corner. This was odd, Henry said strangers never come to Storybrooke, yet, in less than a month, three people arrive in the town.

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_**

Kat was fuelling up the bike at the moment, so Kyle decided to see if there was anything of interest in the town. When he saw the name of this place on the map about a week ago, he was interested in what kind of place Storybrooke was. Glancing down the street, he saw there was not much to look at, mainly housing, but he did see a pawnshop when they first entered town. Maybe he could get something for Uncle Tobi while they were here.

"Hey, Kat?"

"Yeah, Squirt?"

"Mind if I go check out the pawnshop, I wanna see if I can get Uncle Tobi something."

"Sure," Kat said as she removed the nozzle from her bike, "Just give me a min and we'll head over there."

As the brunette said, a minute later, the two were heading towards the pawnshop.

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_**

**RING**

A bell chimed over their heads as they entered the shop. Kyle immediately started to look around while Kat had to suppress the shiver she got. Something about this shop seemed so… so… _wrong_.

"Can I help you?" Startled slightly, Kat's head snapped up at the voice. The owner of which was an older man, who had to be at least in his forties, with longish light brown hair. From his accent, Kat guessed he was Scottish. It was clear that he, at least, worked at the shop as stood behind the counter, dressed sharply in a suit.

"Ah, just browsing." Kat responded after a moment.

"Well, I'm certain I've never seen you around town before." He commented nonchalantly.

"Oh, that's cause me and my brother were just passing through." Kat responded.

"Odd, this town does not get many strangers, much less those who are just 'passing through'." His comment caused Kat to frown lightly. Kat turned away from the shopkeeper and looked over towards where her brother is.

"Hey, Kat," Kyle said cheerily, clearly not having heard the conversation that just happened, "Look at this, think Uncle Tobi would like this?" The item he was referring to was an antique-looking pocket watch, on the cover was an odd-looking creature. It could almost be a goblin.

"Looks like something he'd like." Kat said, remembering how her uncle used to draw creatures similar to the one on the watch.

"Interesting choice, young man." The shopkeeper said as he walked over towards the two, "That's been in my shop for quite some time now, I almost feared that it would die out before someone wanted to buy it."

"How much for the watch?" Kat asked, though her eyes were gazing around the shop. When her eyes stopped for a moment on a pair of wooden dolls, she could not suppress the shiver she got from looking at them.

"Eighty dollars." He responded, making Kat look over at him. That was a really good price for a pocket watch that seemed to be a couple of decades old.

"Okay." Kat said as she dug out her wallet from her jacket.

A few minutes later, the purchase was made and the siblings were walking out of the shop. As they left, they did not hear the shopkeeper's quite words towards the elder sibling.

"Nice doing business with you again, dearie."

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_**

"Ready to head off?" Kat asked.

"Yeah." Kyle nodded as he puts on his helmet. The two then get on the motorcycle, ready to take off.

Kat pulls out of her parking space and heads off for the highway. As they near the town's border, however, the two notice that the bike is making odd sounds, which got louder as they continued moving.

"Shit!" Kat cursed before quickly attempting to stop the bike. For some reason the break did not seem to work properly, but eventually the bike skidded to a stop just a few feet from the Storybrooke sign.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked, his voice somewhat muffled by the helmet.

"I don't know, maybe something is wrong with the engine? And the breaks…" The two sibling removed themselves from the bike and Kat crouched down beside her bike, inspecting the visible parts to it.

"Can you fix it?" Kyle asked, somewhat impatient as his next game was only two days away from now and they were, at least, a 16-hour drive away.

"I think so." Kat murmured before taking off her helmet and gloves. She then held out a hand in front of her, palm facing the sky, and closed her eyes tightly in concentration. She stayed like that for a few moments before she suddenly flinched backwards, as if in pain.

"Sis!" Kyle cried out before kneeling down and grabbing the older girl's shoulders to steady her, "What happened?"

"I-I don't know… A rebound?" Kat murmured, her voice somewhat strained, "Whatever it was… I don't think I'll be able to fix my bike quickly."

**_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_**

Emma was driving near the town border when she noticed a silhouette over by the sign. Curious, the blonde drove closer to the sign to see what was near it. The silhouette turned out to be two people and a motorcycle. Judging by the people's clothing and the bike, it was the same people who asked her for directions only an hour or so ago.

Slowing to a stop near them, Emma rolled down her window. Looking at them, she noticed that the driver from before was inspecting the motorcycle, muttering curses as she did while the passenger, now known to be a blonde teenage boy, was sitting on the ground looking around in boredom.

"Hey." Emma called out, causing the two to look towards her, having not noticed her until then.

"Yes?" The girl asked, she sounded annoyed but it was clearly directed at her bike and not Emma.

"Is something wrong?"

"Fucking bike broke down on me." The girl said in exasperation. Emma could see that the girl seemed very exhausted for some reason.

"If you want, I can give you lift back into town. You can get a tow truck to bring your bike to the local garage." Emma suggested, causing both of them to perk up a bit.

"Thank you, miss." The girl grinned.

"Yeah, thanks!" The teen echoed.

"No problem, and its Emma, not miss." Emma responded, feeling somewhat weird about a girl her age calling her 'miss'.

"Name's Kat, this is my brother Kyle." The girl introduced as she stood up. She then walked over to the sidecar attached to her bike and took out two duffels, one of which she tossed to her brother. The two then entered the police car and Emma proceeded to drive them back to town.

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Hope you liked this chapter. Reviews would be appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3: A Kind of Pale Jewel

Chapter 3: A Kind of Pale Jewel

_Elsewhere, Years Ago_

Running… running, that's all that the sixteen-year-old has been doing for hours now. The only scenery to be seen was the brick walls and floors and the occasional moss.

With a gasp, the girl stopped and hunched over, attempting to regain her breath.

"I fucking hate this place already…" She grumbled as she straightened herself up, moving her shoulder-length brown hair out of her face, "Can't wait to get my brother out of here." She mumbled before continuing down the path in front of her, hoping that she was going the right way.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

"I can't fucking believe it!" Kat cried out as she threw her duffle onto a bed. She had just got her and Kyle a room at the only inn in Storybrooke after she had found out the news, "Two weeks! Two goddamn weeks until the bike is fixed. And that's _minimum_!"

"Kat, I'm just as annoyed about this as you, but do you mind not shouting so loud." Kyle responded as he placed his duffel on the other bed in the room.

"Sorry, Kyle," Kat apologized, "But this doesn't change the fact that we're stuck here for two weeks."

"There goes my spot on the team." Kyle sighed, "And uncle Tobi is too busy with his job to pick us up."

"Sorry, Kyle."

"Not your fault," Kyle shrugged as he plopped down on the bed he claimed as his, "So now what?"

Kat shrugged as she unzipped her duffle, "Dunno, probably just hang around town until my bike's fixed."

"Just great…"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Mother fucker!" The curse was heard loud and clear in the Oubliette as a large metal contraption appear before two figures.

"It's the Cleaners!" The shorter figure called out, scared, before turning around, "_RUN!_"

"No need to tell me twice!" The teenager, who had cursed earlier, responded as the two ran, trying to find a way out of the Cleaner's path. They were running for several minutes, but no luck in finding any nooks or crannies they could duck into to get away from the dangerous machine.

As they continued to run, the teen noticed that a section of the wall a bit up ahead from them looked different from the rest. "Hoggle, over there!" The brunette pointed out the wall to him. The two sped up a bit and then proceeded to ram into the wall, trying to knock it down.

No luck.

"Damn it." She cursed before ramming into it again.

No luck, once more. The Cleaners was almost there.

"C'mon, c'mon!" She cried out before ramming it with all her might.

**CRACK!**

The wall fell down, and due to the laws of physics, the two fell down with it as they were against the wall when it fell. Quickly, the teen, who was much taller than Hoggle, pulled her legs towards her body just in time as the Cleaners drove past them.

"Fricken 'ell." She mumbled as she ran a hand through her hair before looking around the alcove that the two had ended up in. She grinned at the object she saw leaning against the back wall to her right. "A ladder! We get the hell outta this place and back into the maze."

As she got to her feet, she heard the male next to her grumble, "It's a labyrinth, not a maze."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The Willis siblings laughed as they entered the diner. The two had just been watching a cartoon on the elder siblings laptop before they exited their room to get lunch. The two walked over to counter and sat down. After a few moments of them looking at the menu, a waitress came over to take their order.

"What can I get you?" A young woman with red streaks in her hair asked the duo.

"A cheeseburger and a coke please." Kyle ordered.

"A BLT with a iced tea." Kat responded a moment later.

"Alright, coming right up." The waitress smiled before walking off.

After she walked away, the siblings began to chat again, about really nothing at all. They were happy to spend time with each other, something that they didn't get to do much due to their lives. After a few minutes, the happy chatter became playful arguments.

"Nuh-uh."

"Yeah."

"No way."

"Yes way."

"I don't think you could," Kyle responded with a grin.

"Well I can," Kat smirked.

"Then prove it, right here, right now."

"Fine, I will," Kat huffed before going through her purse and bringing out four somewhat-heavy glass balls, about the size of her fist each. With practiced ease, she began to roll them elegantly around her hands and arms, rarely letting them move off of her body.

"Wow!" At that exclamation, Kat, who had all four balls in a single hand at the moment, dropped them, not having expected the exclamation.

**CLACK! CLACK! CLACK! _CRACK!_**

"Crap." Kat muttered as she looked at the ground. Three of the balls landed safely on the ground, but the fourth ball ended up cracking, though thankfully not shattering.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Looking at the source of the voice, Kat realized it was a girl, about ten years old. She had golden blonde hair, brown eyes and was wearing a school uniform.

"It's alright, no foul," Kat shrugged, the girl looked sad that she caused her to drop them. Carefully, she scooted off the stool and knelt down to pick up the balls.

"I've never seen anyone do something like that before," The girl said in amazement.

"It's contact juggling. It's kind of difficult to do, even with just a single ball." Kat explained as she placed the last of the glass balls into her bag.

"Could you possibly teach me?" She asked, "It looked really amazing, I would love to learn how to do that."

"Umm," Kat frowned, she knew she could teach her, after all she was a fencing instructor, but she didn't know if she'd be able to teach the girl how to contact juggle.

"Please, oh please," The girl begged. For some reason, looking at the girl, Kat felt herself having a hard time saying no to her.

"Alright, but I'm only gonna be here for two weeks. If you don't learn it by the end of that time, I can't help you anymore." Kat said.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you!" The girl cheered, wrapping her arms around Kat's waist while the twenty-seven year-old stood awkwardly. "I'm Paige by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Paige," Kat said as she was released from the hug, "I'm Kat."

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Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review, hope you liked this chapter. The flashbacks are very similar to Sarah's journey in the Labryinth, as I won't be showing all of the journey in the flashbacks right away its best that you know of that journey so you can fill in some of the blanks.

Hope everyone liked this chapter, reviews are appreciated!


	4. Chapter 4: Every Thrill Is Gone

Chapter 4: Every Thrill Is Gone

"What was _that_ all about?" Kyle asked when the two returned to their room. He had noticed the way his sister reacted to the little girl and was curious as to what could have possibly brought that side of her out.

"I have no clue." Kat shook her head, not understanding why she did that herself.

"You don't teach anyone contact juggling, not even _me_ and I've asked you since I was six!" Kyle complained.

"I know, I know," Kat groaned as she flopped down on her bed, grabbing the pillow as she did, "I just… One look at her face and I was freaking ready do whatever she asked. I don't understand why. Closest I've ever acted like this was towards you, and even then its not as strong."

"So when are you gonna start teaching her?"

"Tomorrow, we're gonna meet up at the diner after she gets out of class," Kat explained before placing the pillow over her head, "What the _HELL_ is wrong with me lately?"

"No clue, Kat."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The teenager stared around her in confusion, mind slightly dazed. She didn't remember how she got here, or how she ended up in the poufy white ball gown she now wore. She was standing in a crowded ballroom, the walls covered in mirrors. Everyone wore fancy clothing and masks. Despite the amount of people, the teen only heard a man singing along with the melody that went with it.

She wandered through the ballroom, weaving through the crowd. As she walked, she noticed she was getting closer and closer to one particular man. He wore a blue jacket and his blonde hair had matching blue streaks in it. As she walked closer, she suddenly had the urge to turn her head. Just as the man was about to approach her, she noticed the thirteen-hour clock.

The thirteen-hour clock.

Thirteen hours was all she had.

Less than thirteen hours to save her brother.

_What was she doing here!?_

Quickly, she attempted to find an exit. As she struggled to get through the crowd, it seemed the crowed tried to pull her back in, attempting to distract her once more. Finally she managed to escape the crowd and make it to a wall. Sadly, there was no exit there, just the mirrored wall.

"If I can't find an exit, I'll have to make one of my own!" She muttered before grabbing a nearby chair and flinging it with all her might at the wall.

**_CRASH!_**

Screams were heard from the crowd as the teenager felt herself beginning to fall, the ballroom falling to bits along with the mirror.

She felt her clothes return to what they once were as she fell in the darkness, the only visible objects were some remnants of the ballroom.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was around half-past three in the afternoon when Kat sat down at the diner. Any time now, she would be seeing the little girl who she had promised to teach contact juggling to.

Out of boredom, Kat withdrew a single ball from her bag and began to roll it around her hand. She sat there for a few minutes before she heard two pairs of footsteps approaching her. Blinking, Kat turned her head as she caught the ball in her hand.

Standing by the table she was sitting at were two small figures. The first she recognized as Paige, the other was a boy with short brown hair. Judging by his uniform, he was a classmate of Paige.

"Hi, Paige," Kat greeted.

"Hi, miss Kat," Paige responded and was about to continue but Kat cut her off.

"Ok, rule one, don't call me miss. Kat's just fine," Kat said, formality being something she disliked greatly, despite it being practically drilled into her brain.

"This is my friend, Henry. I told him about your trick," Paige introduced the young boy, "Could you possibly teach him too?"

Once again, Kat felt the urge to not deny the young girl's request. It was really annoying, she didn't understand why this girl had such an affect on her.

"Alright, but no inviting anyone else to be taught, ok?" Kat sighed. Paige nodded eagerly, much to the woman's amusement.

"So are we gonna start now?" Henry asked, excitedly.

"No, at least, not here. We need some place carpeted so you don't break the balls or damage the floors when I'm teaching you. Cause you're definitely gonna end up dropping it a few times." Kat explained.

"We can go to my house, my mom won't mind," Henry suggested.

"As long as she doesn't mind." Kat nodded.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Finally the teen had made it to the city beyond the Labyrinth, thanks to the help of her newfound friends. Sadly, that was the only luck they had, for the moment they got the gates opened, the creatures there started firing on them.

The group ran around the city, doing their best to avoid the cannons and spears thrown their way. Thankfully, with the help of the buildings and Ludo's ability to call the rocks, they were able to escape the firing and make it to the castle with time to spar.

They charged into the castle, ignoring the random chickens walking through and headed straight for the throne room. There was only two hours left on the clock and she was not going let her brother be taken from her. Not now, not ever.

They entered the throne room only to find it empty. The teen scanned the room and found a staircase to the side. Deep in her gut, she knew that this was where her brother was being kept.

She started for the steps before realizing something and turned to face her friends, "Guys, I think I have to do this alone." She saw how her friends got somewhat upset at that.

"Are you certain, m'lady?" Sir Didymus asked her from where he sat atop Ambrosius.

"Yeah," She nodded before looking at him, Hoggle and Ludo, "But if I need you, I'll call out for you, ok."

"Should you need us," Hoggle repeated.

"Good luck, m'lady," Sir Didymus encouraged.

"Good bye." Ludo said.

"Good bye, I'm hope we meet again!" The teen grinned before taking off up the steps.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Very good, Paige, you sure this is your first time contact juggling?" Kat teased from where she sat on the floor. The three were sitting in the living room of Henry's house. Kat had shown them a few, simple, moves and was letting them attempt the tricks. Paige was surprisingly very good at, contact juggling. Henry… not so much, his ball made contact with the floor more often then it did his body.

"I'm sure I've never done this before. But it's incredible!" Paige said as she rolled the ball down her arm.

Kat smiled at her before instructing Henry to readjust his grip, lest he drop the ball again. As she did so, she subconsciously looked down at her watch to see the time.

"Wow, its already six-thirty!" Kat commented, her comment causing Paige to drop the ball.

"Oh no, I gotta head home. Its nearly time for dinner." Paige moaned.

"Ok, do you need me to walk you to you house?" Kat asked.

"No, that's alright. Thank you very much for the lesson, it was fun."

"No problem, it was fun teaching you," Kat said as Paige handed the ball back to her. She watched as the girl grabbed her backpack and headed out the door.

"I think we should probably call it quits for the day too, I don't think your mom would appreciate a dent in her floor." Kat teased.

"Honestly, I didn't really wanna learn this." Henry said plainly.

"Huh?" Kat blinked, "Then what, got a crush on Paige or something?"

"No!" Henry protested before going silent for a moment. He looked hesitant as he glanced at Kat before asking, "I was wondering if you knew about the curse?"

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Thank you again, kykyxstandler, for the review, sadly it will be a while until Kat meets Jefferson. I'm glad that you liked this chapter.

Thank you, britnic77, for the review, I hope you will enjoy the rest of this story when it gets posted. As I had just said, it will be awhile until Kat meets Jefferson, it won't be until after Paige and Jefferson reunite.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	5. Chapter 5: I'll Place The Sky,

Chapter 5: I'll Place The Sky, Within Your Eyes

"What curse, Henry?" Kat asked, confused. What was this kid talking about? Was it just some game he was playing?

"The curse here, in Storybrooke. The only other person who came into town recently, August, knows about the curse." Henry stated passionately. Kat nodded along, recalling the name belonging to the only other tenant at the inn. "Everyone here is trapped. Cursed by the Evil Queen, they don't remember their old lives."

Kat frowned slightly, though she didn't think that he was right, the way he spoke made it clear to her that he firmly believed that everyone here was cursed.

"Sorry, Henry, I don't know squat about curses," Kat shrugged as she looked around awkwardly, "Besides, why would the 'Evil Queen' send people here?"

"Because it's a land without magic." At the boy's comment, Kat's eyes snapped to his face. He was telling the truth from what she could tell.

"Now why would you think that?" Kat asked, trying not to sound too interested.

"My story book," Henry said as he rummaged through his bag. Soon enough, he pulled out a fairly large book. It had a brown leather cover and had the words 'Once Upon A Time' inscribed on it in gold lettering. "This book has the story of just about everyone in the town. Including Emma."

"The sheriff?" Kat blinked.

"Yeah, she my mom, well my real mom." He explained. Kat smiled sympathetically, guessing he was adopted.

"Can I see?" Kat asked, curious about the book. She couldn't place it, but she got a weird feeling the moment he took out the book.

"Sure!" Henry smiled, happy to see that he might have gotten someone to believe in the curse, if only he could get his mom to.

The moment Kat's fingertips brushed the leather binding; it felt like electricity shot through her arm as a familiar feeling welled up inside her. This book was defiantly not an ordinary book, it couldn't be, not when it brought out such a reaction out of her. Kat paled slightly and didn't even realize that she had dropped the book after holding it for less than a minute.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked, looking at the older woman in worry.

"Umm, I should get going, Henry." Quickly, though not too quickly as she didn't want to look suspicious, Kat put away her stuff and headed for the door. Once she got out of eyesight of the house, Kat wrapped her arms around herself and shivered, "A land without magic, huh?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The teenager was confused as she reached the top of the stairs. The room before her looked like it was taken straight from a M. C. Escher drawing, with stairs and archways going all over the place.

"What?" She gasped.

"Sissy!" Looking down over the edge of the floor, she saw her brother on a different floor then her.

She was just about to call out her brother's name when she heard someone talk. Turning around to the sound of the voice, she saw that it was the man who stole her brother from her. She glared at him, ignoring his words.

If not for the time limit, now down to less than an hour, she would have gladly beat the crap out of him, but she had to get her brother first.

Stairwell after stairwell she climbed and descended upon. Running like crazy trying to get to her brother, who seemed to move around himself as she ran, she lost her sense of direction as the stairs went in all sorts of directions.

Finally, she stopped, finding herself to be directly over her brother, the distance much more great than when she started.

"Screw it, I don't have time for this bullshit!" She muttered, looking at the clock seeing that there was only a few minutes left. She backed up until she hit the wall, took a deep breath before sprinting off the ledge. She jumped down towards where her brother was.

As she fell, much like when she was in the ballroom, the Escher-like room began to crumble before her.

But she didn't care, she just wanted her brother back.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"How was teaching?" Kyle asked when his sister entered the room. He was sitting on his bed, surfing the web on his laptop.

"… I think I need to call Uncle Tobi." Kat said as she shut the door behind her.

"What's wrong?" Kyle asked, just noticing how pale his big sister was, "Kat?"

"Paige asked me to also teach some other kid, Henry," Kat started to say.

"What, were the two so bad you got violent with them and you need Uncle Tobi to call up a lawyer?" Kyle joked.

"No," Kat shook her head, "That kid… he knows about magic."

"What?" Kyle blinked, shocked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, he asked me if I knew about the curse."

"What curse?"

"Apparently this town is cursed, the people here sent from another world."

"You sure he wasn't making it up."

"At first I thought he was. But then he said that the reason they were sent here, was because this was a land without magic."

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked, realizing what Kat meant. Most children, if they think there is magic, they wouldn't think of there world as being one without magic, it'd be more like a Harry Potter world, with magic being hidden from the majority.

"And he showed me this _book_ of his. Kyle, the moment I touched it I could feel the magic laced through it. Its like _mom's_book."

"Shit!" Kyle muttered as he watched his sibling pace a bit, understanding exactly what that meant.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I need to talk to _him_. I need to find out for certain if there really is a curse here." Kat sighed as she paused in her pacing. If this town was cursed, that would explain why she couldn't fix her bike as she was easily susceptible to curses.

"Couldn't you have called him on your way here?" Kyle asked.

Kat shook her head, "You know how my conversations with ihim/i get, I'd cause a scene if I talked to him on the way here. Besides, I think I was too much in shock to do that." Slowly, she dug into the left pocket of her jeans and pulled out her cell phone. She went through her contacts and found the person she was looking for. With a sigh, she put the phone to her ear and listened as phone tried to make the call. Soon enough, the call was answered and Kat heard a familiar voice. "Hey, Uncle Tobi. … No, no, we're fine. Listen… I need you to go get Jareth and put him on the phone, I need to talk to him."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The teen was now standing on a broken piece of the floor, the only things on I were herself, an archway and the man who had stolen her brother. He had apparently changed his clothes as he now wore all white, with a large white feathered cloak over his outfit.

"Where's my brother?" She demanded.

"I suggest you watch your tone. I have been generous up until now." The man stated coldly.

"Generous?" She snapped.

"Yes, generous, everything you have wanted I have done for you, Sarah." At his finally word the girl finally had it. Throughout all the times she saw him, be it right before she started going through the labyrinth or before he summoned up the Cleaners on her and Hoggle, he had called her that. She was getting sick and tired of it.

"You listen here, you medieval reject. My. Name. Is. NOT. SARAH!" She glared at the man before taking the rapier that Sir Didymus had given her when they dueled by the bridge and aimed it at the man, "Now give me back my fucking brother. You are not taking him from me, you have no power over me."

The man's face welled up in shock before he dropped the crystal ball that was in his hand to the floor, his body changing into an owl as it fell to the floor.

And everything went black for the girl.

**DING! DING!**

"Huh?" The teen looked around, realizing that she was in the hallway in her home. Turning her head, she saw that the grandfather clock was ringing due to the fact that it was midnight.

"Sissy!" Hearing that voice, the teen quickly ran upstairs to where she heard the voice calling her. Opening the door to her brother's bedroom, she saw the four-year-old sitting on the floor, hugging his teddy bear tightly, "Sissy, I had a weird dream."

"Kyle!" She cried out before hugging the boy tightly, "You're alright."

She then heard the front door open and close downstairs. "Kat! Kyle! I'm home!"

Kat grinned before picking up her brother, "Let's go see Uncle Tobi, 'kay?"

"Yay! Uncie Tobi!" Kyle cheered as Kat carried him out of the bedroom, unaware of the snow-white owl outside the window.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jefferson stood by a window, looking through a spyglass into the sheriff's office. He watched as Snow White, or Mary Margaret as she was known in this world; take a key out from under her cot. He watched as she unlocked the cell she was in and leaves the office.

It was clear she was going to run off, more than likely out of Storybrooke.

Now, Jefferson didn't owe the woman any favors, but he also knew she didn't do anything wrong, minus get on Regina's bad side. Knowing what would happen if she managed to leave the town, Jefferson headed out for the woods, where she would most likely try to escape through.

He was going to save Snow White from the danger of leaving the town; it would defiantly give Regina hell.

* * *

Thanks once again, kykyxstandler, for the review. Surprisingly enough, Kat does believe Henry, but then again, Kat did not really have a normal childhood.

Thanks, princessyuki08, for the review. I'm glad that you like the story so far, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6: We're Choosing the Path,

Chapter 6: We're Choosing the Path, Between the Stars

_Wonderland_

Jefferson was stuck in Wonderland. He had been tricked by Regina into bringing her there through his hat. Her reason for going there was to rescue her father, despite knowing that his hat could only allow the same amount of people that entered, to leave.

While he stood in front of the looking glass in despair and shock, the Queen of Heart's men came and took him to her. Now, after loosing his head, he was forced to try and make a new hat. He had to make it, he had to get home to his daughter.

He had to.

He just had to.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

"Okay, yeah, than-… Yeah, than-… FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I'm hanging up now. Bye." Kat huffed as she hung up her phone. Just as she expected, the conversation was a tense one, with her barely restraining herself from reaching into the phone and strangling the man, despite the fact that it was impossible to do so.

"Well, that went better than expected," Kyle remarked as he took off his headphones, "I could actually hear my music."

"Shut up," Kat groaned before she flopped down onto her bed, emotionally drained, "Jareth said he had some goblins patrol the perimeter of the town, there is a curse. A powerful one."

"Joy." Kyle sighed, "And that means we might have to wait for the curse to break until you can leave, right?"

"Yeah." Kat responded before grabbing her pillow. She placed it over her face, which made Kyle aware of what she was about to do so he put his headphones back in. She took a deep breath before holding the pillow tightly to her face and screaming as loud and hard as she could, the scream partially muffled by the pillow.

As soon as she finished screaming, she removed the pillow from her face and started to yawn.

"As least your anger management classes are working," The blonde quipped before he became face-to-face with the pillow that Kat had just screamed into.

"Oh, shut it."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

During one of his rare moments of sanity, Jefferson broke down crying. He was stuck in Wonderland, with absolutely no hope of returning home to his daughter.

He had abandoned his daughter.

He broke his promise to his wife. He still remembered when he made that promise, it was right after Grace was born, his wife still tired from labor.

_"Jefferson, promise me that if something ever happens to me, you won't let Grace be alone."_

_"Oh, come on now, don't talk like that."_

_"I-I'm serious. You and I both now how dangerous our job is. I want you to promise me."_

_"Alright. I promise, love, I won't."_

The man's head dropped into his hands as he continued to sob. There was no way Grace would forgive him for abandoning her like that and he doubted his wife, if he was ever able to see her again, would forgive him either.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kyle groaned and stretched his arms over his head as he walked around the town. After finding out that there was a curse in this town, Kyle knew better than to stick around his sister. Last time she got affected by some random curse she became very, very irritable, not that he could blame her as they were stuck here until it is broken.

Currently, the blonde was just walking around, looking at the random buildings. He was very bored. As far as he could tell, there were not many people in town his age, most were either much older or a couple years younger than him, and nothing in the town really appealed to him. The only place that might have appealed to him, the library, was closed.

"This fucking su-" He started to say but was interrupted when he felt something collide with his head.

"Whoa!" He heard someone shout as he hunched foreword from the force of the hit.

"Owww…" He muttered, clutching his throbbing forehead. After a moment, the blonde opened his eyes to see what had hit him.

"Sorry, mate." A voice spoke from in front of him. Blinking, the teen took his eyes off of the soccer ball and placed them on the owner of the voice. It was a girl, around his age. She had short brown hair with lighter streaks of brown in it and forest green eyes. She was dressed in torn, baggy jeans, white converse, a plain dark gray t-shirt, a couple of bracelets adorned her wrists and a red collar was wrapped around her neck.

"Umm…" Kyle stammered, still trying to reduce the headache that came from the impact.

"You alright?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Ah, good. Like I said, sorry 'bout that, didn't mean ta hit anyone with that."

"It-It's alright," Kyle responded, glad to feel the headache disappearing, "Its sometimes hard to control the ball."

"Ah, you play?" The girl perked up.

"Yeah, I was actually on my way to a tournament with my sister when her bike broke down."

"Aww, that sucks, mate." She sympathetically said as she picked up her ball, "Names Faline."

"Kyle," He responded as he took her out-stretched hand, "Kyle Willis."

"Nice ta meet ya, Kyle-Kyle Willis." Faline grinned, "Fancy a round against me, there's a small soccer field just up ahead."

"It's just Kyle, not Kyle-Kyle." The blonde responded, a bit put off by the nickname, "And sure, why not!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat was sitting in the diner, once more, just sipping away at a chocolate shake she ordered when she saw Henry enter the diner.

"Hey," She greeted the young boy. It was then that she noticed that he didn't look all too happy. Well, he looked happy, but the girl spent enough time around her younger brother to be able to tell when a boy is upset but trying to hide it.

"Hi, Kat." Henry smiled before sitting next to her at the counter.

"What's up?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You look down in the dumps."

"No I don't."

"Kid, I have a younger brother, you look just like he does when he upset but trying to hide it." Kat responded plainly. Kat watched as the ten-year-old looked around the diner for a moment before glancing back at the woman.

"I don't think I should talk about it here," Henry stated, to which Kat shrugged. She understood when someone didn't want anyone to overhear something being said, so she'd just wait.

"Henry…" Kat started to say, causing the boy to look up at her once more, "Think you could tell me more about the curse." She might as well learn more about it, that way she knows if she has a chance of getting out of this place.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jefferson smirked as he waited for the sheriff to head his way. After he caught Mary Margaret, he realized that she could be useful. He could use her as bait to trap Emma.

Emma had magic. That was the only explanation he could come up with as to why the Curse weakened the moment she rolled into town. If she could make him a new hat, he could take Grace away form this world.

All he wanted was to get away from this town and be with his daughter again.

* * *

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for once again reviewing. Yes, Kat is _very_aware of magic. As shown in this chapter, this isn't the first curse she's run into. Though to what extent does her knowledge of magic consist of... well, for the moment that is something only a friend of mine and myself know. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

To everyone else, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7: You Remind Me of the Babe

Chapter 7: You Remind Me of the Babe

For several hours, the two teens played against each other in a mini game of soccer. Kyle was having so much fun that he hadn't even realized how long they were playing until he noticed that the sun had already set.

"Woah, how long have we been out here?" Kyle pondered as he stopped to stare at the sky above him.

"Dunno," Faline shrugged. The girl picked up the soccer ball before walking over to the blonde, "It was nice hanging with you, mate, but the old hag's gonna kill me if I'm late for curfew."

"It was nice meeting you too, Faline. Today was really fun."

"Well, see ya." Faline said before taking off. Kyle watched the girl run off until she was no longer in his sight. Kyle then stretched his arms over his head before stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"Maybe this town doesn't suck too much." Kyle mused to himself before he started to walk back to the inn.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Henry and Kat were walking towards Henry's house at the moment, as the older girl offered to walk the kid home after she realized how late it was. Today was quite an informative day for Kat. She had learned quite a bit about the Curse from Henry.

Apparently, the only person who can break the Curse was sheriff Emma Swan, who happened to be Henry's birth mother. Sadly though, Emma apparently didn't seem to fully believe Henry about the curse.

Soon enough, the two made it to Henry's house. As they reached the door, it opened, revealing a woman in a black pant suit with short black hair.

"There you are, Henry," The woman said, relieved.

"Sorry about that, we were chatting at the diner and lost track of time, miss." Kat apologized.

The woman looked at Kat, as if she had not noticed that she was there before, "I'm sorry, who are you, I've never seen you in town before?"

"I'm Kat, miss, me ad my brother are currently stuck here due to my bike needing repairs." Kat stated simply. Kat didn't notice it, but a flash of recognition flickered in the woman's eyes.

"Ah, I'm sorry about that. I'm Regina." She introduced before turning to Henry, "So what was it that you were talking about?"

"She can do this really cool juggling technique, she said she was going to try to teach me how to do it." Henry lied. Well, it wasn't technically a lie as they did talk about that, _yesterday_.

"Oh." Regina muttered.

"Yeah, contact juggling. Him and a girl that were in the diner were really interested. When I realized how late it had gotten I offered to walk the two to their homes." Kat explained.

"Well, that was nice of you. Henry, did you thank her?" Regina asked.

"Yes."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but I better go now." Kat said.

"Bye, Kat!" Henry waved as the woman walked away.

"Bye." Kat responded softly. She didn't want to admit that the reason she wanted to leave so quickly was because of the faint chill she got from Regina. It wasn't as noticeable as the chill that came from the pawnshop, but it was still there.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After sending Henry up to his room to do his homework, Regina stared blankly in front of her. The woman who had walked her son home was familiar. She knew this Kat person, met her before when she was younger. But that couldn't possibly be right.

There was no way that she had seen her before. Kat had only recently arrived in town; she wasn't from the world all of the town's citizens were from.

Regina was puzzled by this, but even so, there was something that had her even more concerned. In the twenty-eight years that the town had been in this world, the only strangers to come through were Emma, August and now Kat, and apparently her brother. No one outside of the town had entered the town, going right past it as if it was never there.

So why did Kat notice this town and go through it?

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"So you met some chick your age who likes soccer, cool," Kat commented as she laid on her bed. Kyle had just finished telling his older sister about Faline.

"Yeah, I'm surprised though, there didn't seem to be that many teens in this town." Kyle commented.

"I noticed," Kat responded, "It seems to be mainly young kids or adults. I think the youngest person I saw was nineteen."

"So were you able to get any info on the Curse from Henry?"

"Yeah, it looks like we'll be here longer than two weeks from what Henry's told me." Kat stated blandly before explaining exactly what Henry told her about the Curse and Emma's role.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Paige smiled as she had a tea party with her stuffed animals. She glanced at all of them as she served the tea. As she was serving, a thought came to her.

"Maybe I should invite Kat over for tea?" Paige thought out loud. She liked Kat, she was really nice and fun to be around. Paige felt happy around Kat, even though she had only just met her three days ago. Even so, she couldn't wait to see Kat again.

Well, until then, Paige would continue her tea party.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jefferson sighed as he sharpened his favorite pair of scissors. He had just finished tying up Emma after she passed out from the drugged tea he gave her. He knew this was not something his wife would approve of, or even Grace would approve of, but he was so very desperate. He _needed_his daughter back.

He could deal with the dual lives in his head from being in Storybrooke. He could even deal with the absence of his wife to an extent. But he couldn't take seeing his daughter living with another family, not knowing her real father anymore.

He had to get Grace back, no matter what it took.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

As Kat slept that night, odd creatures plagued her dreams. They were of all shapes and sizes. Some had hair, some didn't. Some were large and some were thin. Some were brown, some were green and some were entirely different colors. Some looked frightening, some didn't. Some were wild and untamed, and others were kind and polite. To most this would be a disturbing sight, but she was no stranger to these creatures. She had dreamt of them since she was a child and had met many of them when she was sixteen.

She watched as they moved around her dream, as they tended to do. She watched them cause amuck in the place they were, as was usual.

All to soon that dream faded into something that Kat did, yet did not, recall dreaming of before.

She was running, running in a forest. It was not a forest of her home or of the home that the creatures she normally dreamt of lived. Even so, she was happy as she ran. She saw a figure up ahead in a long coat. She called out to him; she felt her lips move but could not hear a sound. She watched as the figure began to turn around.

**RIING RIIING RIIIING**

Kat groggily opened her eyes as she stared blankly at the alarm clock. It was seven in the morning now.

She reached out and pushed the snooze button on the clock, effectively shutting it off.

The brunette rubbed her eyes as she sat herself up in her bed. Barely noticing that her brother had done the same.

"Have any good dreams, Sis?" Kyle asked.

Kat blinked, trying to recall her dreams from the night before. She remembered her normal dreams, but she could have sworn she dreamt of something else as well. As much as she tried to recall the dream, she could not.

"Nothing special."

* * *

Once again thank you, kykyxstandler, for your review. As I had said before, it will be awhile until Kat and Jefferson meet up. I will tell you that they will meet by chapter 20, maybe sooner, I'm currently writing chapter 13 so I do not know the exact chapter they will meet, but I will try to get the two to meet by then. And sorry, I had thought it was a bit obvious, the reason for Henry being upset, especially due to the last scene in that chapter. Henry had just found out that Mary Margaret was missing from her cell, and was scared something was going to happen to her.

Thank you, Opalbrat, glad to hear you are enjoying my story so far. I will not say whether or not Kat is Alice, she might be, or she might not. She might have something to do with the disappearance of Alice or not at all. Or she could just be some random character and Alice might turn up later. I will not say, all will be revealed eventually.

Hope everyone liked this chapter and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!


	8. Chapter 8: The Babe With The Power

Chapter 8: The Babe With the Power

Jefferson sighed as he returned to his empty house. The Hat that he had forced Emma to make had worked, but only enough for two trips. He was still stuck in Storybrooke without Grace and it would be a lot harder to now to try and get Emma to make him a new hat.

He entered his bedroom and dropped onto his bed. He was tired, both mentally and physically.

He wished so badly that he had not decided to take up Regina's offer. If he hadn't, he would be with his daughter still. After loosing his wife, Grace was the only thing he had left in any world that he cared about.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A few days had passed since Kat had learned of the Curse. Since then she began a simple routine, go to the diner for breakfast, surf the web or read a book until lunch, have lunch, wander the town until school ended and then meet up with Paige and Henry to teach them contact juggling. Afterwards, she'd meet up with Kyle at the diner for dinner before heading back to the room where they'd watch some videos and chat about their day.

As far as Kat could tell, not much exciting had happened, except for some woman, Mary Margaret, being freed from jail after being accused of murder, that apparently never happened in the first place.

Kat was just heading back to her room at the inn to retrieve her iPod, which she had forgotten to grab before lunch, when she noticed someone exiting the room across from hers. She had expected it to be August, as it was his room, but to her surprise it was the owner of the pawnshop, whom she had been told by Henry is called Mr. Gold.

"Um… Hi?" Kat blinked, not knowing what to think. The man tensed, having not expected anyone coming here.

"Ah. Hello." Mr. Gold responded. The two just stood there for a moment in awkward silence.

"Uh, yeah…" Kat started to say, not really knowing what to say. Judging by the man's posture, he obviously didn't want to be caught. It was especially obvious by the fact that he was wearing gloves when it was not cold out.

"I was just-"

"I'm just gonna head to my room now," Kat commented before turning around and unlocking the door to her room. She wasn't going to comment on this situation, unless he was doing something illegal.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

To say Kyle was surprised would be an understatement. Kyle knew for a fact that the town's school was currently in session at the moment so he was shocked to see Faline at the soccer field. The girl was lying down in the field and repeatedly tossing a handball up into the air before catching it.

"Faline?" At the sound of her name, the teen sat up and looked towards the male.

"Hey, Kyle, what's up?" Faline greeted the confused boy.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

"Nah," The brunette shrugged as she stood up, "I don't see the point in it."

"Why?"

"Well… most people think this sounds crazy but…" Faline started to say as she shoved her hands in her pockets and began to rock on the balls of her feet, "It feels like I've been in these classes forever."

"Most people feel that way."

"No, I mean that I feel like I've had the _exact_ same classes for _years_." Normally Kyle would have dismissed that for teenage imagination, as he felt that way a lot himself, but the look in Faline's eyes made it clear that she truly felt like she had experienced the same class over and over again for years.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I mean, I know I'm definitely only fifteen, but I feel like I've been in this class for nearly _thirty years_."

"Seriously?" Kyle asked, he didn't know exactly how long the Curse had been in effect, or the exact details what happened to those under the Curse. Perhaps no one aged, or perhaps they were stuck in a time loop… okay, maybe the last idea was just too much sci-fi on his part.

"Yeah, I wrote in my journal every time I felt a huge moment of déjà vu. Twenty-eight times so far for most of them."

"Weird." Kyle commented softly. He didn't want to alarm the girl by telling her about the Curse, as that would either freak her out or make her think he was crazy.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat was having that dream again, she was running through a forest that she did not know, but yet she felt as if she did. She felt herself laughing as she ran. She didn't know why she was so happy or why she running, she just was. All to soon, she met up with the figure standing in the clearing.

Instead of waking up before the man turned around, as she had the last several times, darkness engulfed her vision just before she saw the man's face. She stared into the nothingness before her for several moments before it slowly faded away.

When the darkness faded, Kat was left standing in an open plane, but she was calm as she knew the area. She was near her uncle's home in New York. This was the same open area that she would practice fencing as a child, where her mother had practiced her acting as a teen.

Kat felt something in her hands, looking down revealed to her that it was a book. It was leather bound with gold lettering, it was not that large, nor did it have a lot of pages, it was the typical size of a novel. Kat moved her right hand to trace the letters on the cover with her index finger.

She had read this book so many times, front to back, back to front. It was one of two books that she had constantly asked her mother to read her as a child, one of two stories that she had practically memorized by the time she was sixteen. It was a story of adventure, and of magic. It was a coming-of-age story with a meaningful message. It was a story she knew all too well.

Carefully, as if afraid the book would turn to dust if she was anything but gentle, the brunette opened up the book to a random page. Upon opening to the page, she let her eyes travel across the oh-so-familiar words and illustration.

She saw a line that made her heart stop, as it had since she was sixteen. Unlike the rest of the words in the book, she dared not utter this specific line aloud. Nothing good came from it, not for her, not for anyone. She refused to say it out loud and possibly be overheard.

As she looked at the single line that always made her pause, she did not notice the illustration on the page next to it start to twitch. She did, however notice as the illustration began to, quite literally, _jump_from the page!

She dropped the book in shock as she watched creatures of all different shapes and sizes appear from the pages. She watched as all of these vastly different creatures appeared before her, surrounding her. But after the initial shock, she was not shocked, just amused.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, as she spoke she heard how off her voice sounded, like she was underwater.

"Kat~" The creatures started to say before suddenly, one of the creature's head ended up at her feet.

"Wha-!" Kat gasped, staring at the head before snapping her to look in the direction the head came from. She watched in shock as a shadow, nothing else could describe this shapeless form, came forward and started to skewer the creatures.

"Run, Kat!"

"M'lady, run!"

Kat felt herself take a step backwards, hesitant to follow her friend's commands, wanting nothing more than to help them.

"Kat!"

She turned after watching one of her friends get sliced in half by the shadow, not being able to take any more. She ran.

"Kat!"

She wanted to help, but she didn't have anything to defend herself with. She tried to get something, but nothing was working her way. What was that thing? Why was it attacking her friends?

"Kat!"

She turned around just in time to see the shadow behind her, ready to strike-

"**KAT!**"

Kat sprang up in her bed, gasping for breathe as she stared straight in front of her. She barely noticed as her brother placed a hand on her shoulder and moved her face so she was looking at him.

"Kat?" Kyle looked at his sister in concern, "Are you all right?" He had woken up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom when he saw his sister twisting and turning in her bed, she was moaning in pain. It scared him. He never saw his sister in pain, she always tried to hide it from him, and he had never, absolutely _never_, saw his sister so scared as when she woke up from that nightmare.

"I… I…" Kat started as she placed one of her hands over her face, "Some… Something… Something bad is going to happen."

"Huh?"

"I think… I think I just had a vision." Kat stated, still shaking from her nightmare, "And it was nothing good."

"Are you sure?"

"…" Kat stayed silent at her brother's question. She'd never had a vision before, but she had also never had any dream that involved those creatures before except for the one dream she'd had since she was a child. She felt that this was some type of warning just based on that fact alone.

* * *

Thank you once again, Opalbrat, for the review. I hope you liked this chapter as well.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for reviewing once again. Perhaps it was Jefferson she was dreaming of, or perhaps she watched too much Doctor Who and/or Sherlock... no wait, that's me not Kat. Anyways, all will be revealed eventually.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! And I hope that those who read this chapter enjoyed it. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated. Oh and if anyone wants to see how the characters look, I posted bios of the OCs on my deviantArt, links are in my profile, along with a few other drawings.


	9. Chapter 9: Power of VooDoo

Chapter 9: Power of VooDoo

"So what happened? In your dream?" Kyle asked from where he was sitting on his bed as Kat was brushing her teeth in the bathroom."I-" Kat started before spitting out the residue toothpaste from her mouth, "I don't really remember now. It sorta faded. I know it had something to with some sort of… shadow and it was hurting a bunch of goblins."

"So could something be wrong in the City?" Kyle asked, concerned. Much like his sister, he had a strong friendship with many of the creatures there.

"It could be… or it could be something else. The goblins could represent something I hold close to. Dreams tend to be very cryptic after all." Kat comments as she leans down to splash her face with water.

"No need for the Freud, sis, not all of us are psychology majors." Kyle commented dryly. At his comment, Kat sighed and wiped her face dry with a towel.

"Kyle, don't start." Kat responded stiffly.

The teen flinched, realizing why his sister had spoken in such a way towards him, "Hey, you know you can go back to finish earning your degree. It's not your fault you-" But the teen was cut off by his sibling's cell phone going off.

Exiting the bath room, Kat grabbed her phone and answered it, not even bothering to look at the caller ID first. "Hello? … Oh, hey, Paige. … Hmm? Sure, I wouldn't mind. … Ok, bye."

"What'd Paige want?" Kyle asked as the brunette tucked her phone into the front pocket on her jeans.

"Oh. She wanted to tell me she wouldn't be able meet up with me for contact juggling lessons as she will be attending a party for her teacher."

"Oh yeah. Wasn't she freed from conviction after they found the person who she supposedly killed alive."

"Yep."

"Sounds like a bad soap opera."

"… Yeah, yeah it does." Kat said, smirking in amusement.

"So now what?"

"I don't know," Kat shrugged, "Wanna go out for a jog with me?"

"Sure."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After an hour or so of jogging through the actual town, Kyle suggested that they move their jog to the woods, for a change of scenery. Right after their route change, the jog became more of a game of hide and seek mixed with tag.

"Haha, can't get me!" Kyle laughed as he dodged behind a tree.

"Oh, just you wait, Kyle!" Kat laughed, despite the annoyed tone of her voice. It felt good to goof off like this. It had been a while since they got to play around like this.

Kat chased after her younger brother, laughing while dodging the trees. She continued to watch her brother run as she chased after him, until he was suddenly out of her line of sight.

"Kyle!" Kat shouted, shocked by the sudden disappearance of her brother.

"Owww." She heard her brother groan. Walking a bit forward, Kat realized that her brother had fallen on his back into a semi-deep ditch. "I'm okay."

Kat chuckled at the sight of her brother in the ditch, "Mighty fine hole you fell down, Alice." She teased.

"Hey!" Kyle snapped, though he clearly was not too serious based off the amusement in his eyes, "I ain't as obsessed with that book as you, sis."

"True, but you did fall down a hole."

"Oh! Help me up would ya!" Kyle snapped.

"Alright, but if you start chasing rabbits, warn me before ya head to Wonderland." Kat continued to tease before kneeling down and reaching a hand into the ditch to grab her brother's hand.

After a few minutes of struggling, the younger Willis sibling was out of the ditch.

"Damn you weigh a ton." Kat joked as she sat down panting.

Kyle scoffed before lying down next to his sister, arms and legs sprawled out.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Eventually, the two ended up back in town, though now were coated in a thin layer of dirt.

"Gah, I need a shower." Kyle whined.

"What are you, a girl?" Kat joked.

"Oh shut it." Kyle responded with a gentle push to Kat's shoulder, causing the woman to laugh.

"Eh, I have to agree, a shower sounds goods about now." Kat commented. The two paused in their trek for a moment to make eye contact.

"Race you there!" They shouted simultaneously before taking off for the inn.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jefferson groaned as he entered one the many rooms in his empty home. Last he had looked, Grace was still at school due to a party her class was having for their teacher so he didn't bother to go check on her again. He knew she was safe during school hours. He just wished that _he_was the one who would be picking her up from school in the end of the day.

It wasn't right! Grace was his daughter, he should be the one who took care of her. Instead he had to watch his daughter from afar as she lived with a family that wasn't hers. With a father that wasn't him.

Even so, in a way, he was glad that she was happy blissfully unaware of her real life. Unaware that he had abandoned her. Not cursed with dual lives in her head like he was.

With a sigh, Jefferson slumped down into a chair and placed a hand over his face. He wished his wife were here, she'd know what to say. Jefferson smiled lightly as he thought of his wife, his Alice. She would have yelled at him for acting this way. Knowing her, she would have told him to take the caterpillar back with him instead of Regina the moment he found out that Regina was going to steal from the Queen of Hearts. He missed her so much. He should have done something to save her, but he didn't.

He knew why Regina gave him this house it was to torture him. He had all he needed to provide for his family, but no family to provide for. All he wanted was his wife and daughter back. He wanted his family.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Owww…"

"Dumbass, you should have said something, earlier!" Kat snapped as she looked at the cuts on his back from the fall he had taken earlier.

"Well they didn't sting then!" Kyle snapped back.

"Look, I'm gonna head to the pharmacy to get some disinfectant and bandages." Kat responded with a sigh.

"Thanks…" Kyle said with a sheepish smile, causing Kat to roll her eyes.

"Heh. Be back in a bit." Kat said as she opened the door to the exit the room. As she was walking down the hallway, she noticed August limping towards his room. "Hey, August." She greeted, though she looked at the man in concern.

"Oh," August looked at her, not having realized she was there, "Hello, Kat."

"You okay?"

"Yeah, why would you ask?"

"You're limping," Kat said, gesturing to his leg.

"Oh," August muttered before trying to straighten up and hide his limp, "I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright then." Kat said, though she still looked at the man in concern, "I'm heading to the pharmacy, you need anything?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Kat nodded before heading off to the pharmacy.

* * *

Thank you once more, kykyxstandler, for the review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Eventually the shadow will come into play, but not yet. As for Faline... I ain't saying anything yet.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated! Happy New Years everyone!


	10. Chapter 10:Crying Hard as Babe Could Cry

Chapter 10: Crying Hard as Babe Could Cry

Kat sighed as she walked down one of the few aisles in the pharmacy, looking for the items she needed. As much as she tried to hide it, she was stressed out. Between the weird dreams that she knew she was having yet didn't remember, and being stuck in this town, it had put a massive strain on her psyche. She just wanted to go home now. She didn't want to deal with any curses, especially since this technically traps her brother here too.

The last time her brother was in danger she was able to save him, but this time she'd have no power to save him, as apparently only Emma could stop this Curse.

"The one time I'm actually asking Jareth for help." Kat muttered. Two days ago she had contacted Jareth again to ask for help, but apparently he would be unable to do squat. The Curse prevented him from entering the town, let alone allowing Kat and Kyle to leave. It wasn't like the last time Kat had to suffer a curse.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten years ago_

Kat groaned as she lay in her bed. Her head was pounding. Her body ached. She felt like she was dying.

"Sissy?" With some strain, Kat turned her head to see her five-year-old brother poking his head into the room.

"Hey, Squirt." Kat said. Her voice was hoarse from strain.

"What wrong?"

"I don't…" Kat started before being cut off by a coughing fit, "Know. Wish I did though."

As if those words were a summoning spell, a sudden and rapid tapping at her window was heard.

"Kyle… can you get that." Kat asked her brother before going into another coughing fit.

"Okay, sissy!" Kyle responded happily before running over to the window and opening it. A white barn owl flew into the room, landing on the back of the chair near Kat's desk.

"Just what I _don't_need, the sparkle king." Kat groaned out. She closed her eyes as she started to cough once more.

"What is wrong, child?" A deep voice asked. Opening her eyes, Kat saw that now, instead of an owl, there was a man sitting in her desk chair. He wore dark medieval-style clothing and had long blonde hair in an eighties style.

Kat looked into his dual-colored eyes with a 'are you serious' look. "Does it look like I fu-" She paused to cough, "know, Jareth."

Jareth frowned slightly before holding up a hand before him, a small crystal ball appearing in it. He walked over to the sick seventeen-year old and held it over her. After a moment, he moved it closer to his face, only for his frown to deepen.

"Have you been near anyone cursed lately?"

"Wha-" Kat questioned, "What kind of question is that?"

"You're suffering side effects of a curse."

"Why? I thought curses only affected those who they were placed on." Kat commented between coughs.

"Normally, yes. But in your case… they can affect you as well, though not always in the way they were meant to affect someone." Jareth explained to the teen.

"F my life." She commented dryly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

"There, that should do it!" Kat said as she patted Kyle on the back.

"OW!" Kyle hissed in pain as she had ended slapping one of his cuts.

"Sorry," Kat commented sheepishly. Kyle nodded before holding up a copy of the local newspaper. "Since when do you read?"

"Haha." Kyle droned out, it was a bit of joke between the two as while Kyle did read occasionally it wasn't as much as her, "I got bored while waiting for you and this was on table. Apparently, the person who kidnapped that woman and tried to frame the school teacher confessed."

"Hmm, who was it?" Kat asked, semi-interested.

"Some dude named Sidney Glass." Kyle said before pointing to the picture of the man in the newspaper.

Kat looked at the picture and frowned slightly, "Doesn't look like the criminal type. Seems more like the stalker type."

"Alright, Agent Rossi, whatever you say," Kyle responded jokingly, causing the brunette to laugh.

"Watching too much Criminal Minds again?"

"Hey, you're the one who was thinking of becoming one of those analysts." Kyle defended.

"True." Kat responded before grabbing her laptop from her bag and sitting down next to her brother, "So what do you want to watch?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten years ago_

"Are you certain you didn't pass by anyone cursed?" Jareth repeated his question.

"How the frick am I supposed to know?" Kat shouted before falling into a coughing fit. After Jareth first entered her room, she asked Kyle to go back to his room. She honestly did not trust him, considering how they met. It was actually a wonder she put up with him as much as she did.

"It could be anything, a slight pull towards something or push away. A headache or a chill running up your spine. Feeling out a curse is sometimes easier than feeling out magic in general."

"…" Kat was silent for a moment as she thought about what the blonde in front of her said, "When I went through the Labyrinth a week ago I felt weird when I went near this one pit the Fireys where in, but then again they tend to disturb me slightly."

"Hmm, I will look into it," Jareth stated before disappearing in a puff of glitter.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX  
**

_Present Day_

Later that night, Kat was grabbing food from the diner for her and Kyle to eat when she noticed August there. She was wondering how he was doing as the way he was limping early had concerned her. At the moment, he seemed to be doing well, though. He was sitting at a booth with an older man, just chatting away as they ate a meal. Kat blinked for a moment, she recognized the look in August's eyes, having seen it in photos from when her mom was alive. It's the loving look that could only come from a child looking at their parents. Clearly that man was his father. Kat smiled sadly, remembering her father, as well as her mother.

It had been eleven years since her parents died in that car accident, but those wounds don't heal well. Sure, she has accepted their deaths, but that didn't mean she didn't miss them. She wished that her parents could have been able to watch Kyle grow, as they were able to with her. She still remembered her father encouraging her to practice fencing and play sports despite her getting into fights at school with her classmates over it. She remembered watching her mother, an actress for Broadway, getting ready for all different plays, reciting them to her for her bedtime stories when the reading material became repetitive. Kyle wouldn't be able to do any of that, she wasn't even sure if he remembered them. He was only four-years-old when they died, she remembered how confused he was at their funeral, and how for a month later he kept on asking where they were.

"Here you go," Kat was broken out of her somber thoughts by Ruby handing her a bag with the dinners for herself and her brother.

"Ah, thanks," Kat nodded before handing Ruby the money for the meals, as well as a tip.

"Have a good night." Ruby said politely with a smile. After the first few times Kat had entered the diner, Ruby had become quiet a good friend of hers. Kat could easily say that Ruby is one of the few female friends she had, as growing up as such an extreme tomboy barely let her get along with any female classmates, not that she had ever wanted to deal with the drama that regularly happened in groups of that gender.

"You too," Kat said before heading out the door to head back to the inn. She was going to head back, eat her dinner, watch some mindless TV for an hour or so and then head to sleep. She had one too many depressing thoughts today and needed to get the day over with.

As she walked back to the inn, she didn't notice Emma drive by in her yellow bug with Henry in the passenger seat.

* * *

Thank you once again, kykyxstandler, for the review. I am glad that you enjoyed Kyle falling down the hole, though I'm sure Kyle did not enjoy that.

Thank you for the two reviews, samanthatm, I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far, I cannot tell you if Kat is Alice or not but I can assure you that Kat and Jefferson will meet in chapter 15, I am currently working on chapter 19 so I can assure you that they will soon meet.

Thank you, Madhatter, I am glad you are enjoying the story so far, relax, they will meet in about five chapters, in chapter fifteen, I didn't want the two to meet up until _after_ Grace and Jefferson reunited, and its for a pretty good reason that begins in chapter sixteen.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. And if anyone didn't read my responses to those who reviewed, **Kat and Jefferson will meet in chapter 15, **until then try to be patient.


	11. Chapter 11: My Baby's Love Had Gone

Chapter 11: My Baby's Love Had Gone

Kyle was having a good dream. He was just awarded the MVP award by FIFA and was standing next to Megan Fox. She leaned down to give him a congratulatory kiss-  
**  
BEEP BEEP BEEP**

"Ah, dammit." Kyle muttered as he hit the snooze button on the alarm clock, no awake, "Hey, sis, wake up!" Kyle sat up while brushing a hand through his hair. He glanced over at Kat's bed to find her peacefully resting in it. Kyle smiled lightly at that, deciding to just let her rest. He knew that the nightmare she had yesterday had taken a serious toll on her. He may not be into psychology like she was, but he knew how to read his sister's actions. She was stressed out by this whole dilemma, and that nightmare just added to it.

"I'll just let her sleep in today." Kyle muttered to himself before standing up. He quietly got ready for the day, doing his best not to disturb his sister's slumber. After he was washed and dressed for the day, he wrote out a note saying he had already gone out, and that she should relax today before heading out the door.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten years ago_

In the bedroom of a five-year-old sat a worried little boy. While his toys did distract him, they didn't distract him enough to not remember that his big sister was in the room next door, very sick.

"Maybe I could make sissy a get wel car!" Kyle said to himself before running over to his table getting his crayons and a stack of paper.

A few minutes later, he heard the door to his room open. Looking up, he saw that it was one of the many creatures that 'Uncle Jareth' had. He recognized this one. It was short, about his height, with an oval-shaped head and pointy ears that drooped slightly on the sides of his head. The creature's limbs were short but its hands and feet were quite large, each about the size of his head. Upon his face were two small, beady eyes, a pig-like snout, and fangs sticking out from his lower jaw. The creature was dressed similar to that of a pirate.

"Spittle!" Kyle cried out happily, seeing his friend.

"He-hello, mista Kyle." Spittle greeted shyly, "Masta Ja-Jareth asked fo-for me to ke-keep you companies."

"Yay!" Kyle cheered, happy to see his friend. The little boy jumped up and hugged the goblin before running back to his crayon box and holding out a crayon to his shy companion, "Cans you helped me make a get wel car for sissy?"

Spittle fidgeted nervously before nodding, "Sure, mista Kyle."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

Kyle smiled and waved to Faline when he saw the girl sitting in the soccer field once more. Apparently, the girl had decided to once again skip school.

"Hey, Faline," He greeted her once he was in hearing distance.

"Ah, hey, mate." Faline responded with her typical toothy grin, as she moved her book back into her bag.

"Huh? Another déjà vu?" Kyle asked, noticing that, that was the book she had told him about several days before.

"Nah, I actually haven't had that many since you came into town." Faline shrugged, "Just felt like 'reviewing my notes', if you will."

"Ah, so what do you want to do?"

"Eh, how 'bout a round or two of soccer?" Faline suggested.

"Sure, why not."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat awoke very peacefully, something that didn't happen often.

"Kyle, did you shut off the alarm clock?" Kat asked as she stretched her limbs over her head, her eyes still closed as she adjusted to being awake. After a moment of no response, Kat turned her head towards her brother's bed and groggily opened her eyes, "Kyle?"

Instead of the blonde teen, there was a simple sheet of paper on the bed.

"Huh?" Kat stretched her arm over and grabbed the paper. Her eyes skimmed the few, short sentences before she placed the paper down with a smile. "Well… I should probably start getting up." Kat stated before glancing at the clock, "Damn, already noon."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_10 Years Before_

A few hours had passed since Jareth had left to see about the curse that Kat had felt by the Fireys. She was still coughing up a storm and still felt like she had been hit a 16-wheeler going 80 mph.

"Fricking 'ell, Jareth." Kat muttered between coughs.

"Sissy?" Kat strained her head to see Kyle and a goblin, Spittle she believed his name was, standing by her door.

"Kyle? What's up?" Kat asked.

"I got yous a get wel car!" Kyle exclaimed before running over to his sister, a messy piece of paper in his hands, "Spittle helpeded me!"

"I-it, was no-nothing, mista Kyle," Spittle protested, his grayish skin turning red from embarrassment.

Kat managed a smile as she looked down at her brother and his friend, "Thank you, both of you."

"Do you feels betterer now, sissy?" Kyle asked, looking at his sister hopefully.

"Yeah, Kyle, a bit." Kat lied, not wanting to upset her brother.

"Yay!" Kyle cheered before doing a little happy dance, dragging Spittle into it.

"Hahaha!" Kat laughed between coughs.

**!**

"Huh?" Kat gasped as she felt herself back to normal.

"I managed to get the witch who placed the curse on the Fireys to remove it." Jareth said, from where he appeared at the foot of Kat's bed.

"You mean Sissy is all betterer, Uncie Jareth?" Kyle asked the man.

"Yes." Jareth responded to the five-year-old before turning to the former bedridden girl, "You should take care to not go near any curses next time."

"Like I was supposed to know," Kat rolled her eyes, "Besides, how could I tell there is a curse unless I go near it."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_Kyle and Faline had been playing in the field for a couple of hours peacefully, but that peace was broken once they heard the ambulance.  
**  
WHEEWHOO WHEEWHOO WHEEWHOO**

"Eh?" Kyle muttered, watching the ambulance drive by.

"That's odd." Faline stated as she took watched the ambulance.

"I wonder who that was?"

"It looked like it came from the apartment complexes, it could be anyone."

"Hmm." Kyle muttered, he had a bad feeling about this. And, much like his sister's, his gut feelings tended to be accurate.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat had just finished getting ready for the day and was exiting her room when she saw Emma frantically exiting August's room.

"Emma?" The blonde whipped around to look at Kat. It was then that Kat noticed how grief stricken Emma was, "What's wrong?"

"I-It's Henry." Emma started to say, she knew that Kat knew Henry was biologically her son as they had spoken a few times since Kat first arrived in town, "He took a bite of an apple turnover and just passed out. He's in a coma! I gotta do something to save him!"

Emma was panicking, scared she would loose her child after only recently getting him.

"What? Was it food poisoning or something?"

"No- Yes, ugh, Regina made it for _me_, she was trying to get rid of _me_. And now Henry is dying!" Emma said frantically.

"There's gotta be something to help him." Kat stated.

"I don't know, Gold said there was something that could save him but I'm not sure it will work." Emma said.

"Hey, anything that might help is worth a try, Emma." Kat said as she put a reassuring hand on the woman's shoulder, "Now go save your son."

Emma stayed silent for a moment before nodding, "Thanks."

"No problem," Kat stated, she knew what it was like to feel helpless while someone close to you was in danger. She knew that one sometimes need a little help to get a job done.

Besides, Kat smiled as she watched Emma walk off, realizing that Emma finally believed in the stories that Henry had been desperately trying to tell her.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jefferson frowned as he watched Belle head off for Mr. Gold's shop. He was livid, he was furious, he was _pissed_. Regina had broken her deal with him. He used his hat again for her only for her to go back on her deal once more.

But, unlike last time, he was able to deal out a small bit of revenge immediately. He knew of the relationship between Belle and Rumplestiltskin, and of how Regina had told the Dark One that Belle had perished. Jefferson knew that his old employer would give Regina hell for trapping Belle. He knew he would.

Alice…

Jefferson sighed as his anger washed away into sadness. He missed his wife so much. He didn't know which was worse, watching his Grace from a far living a life without him, or not knowing where his Alice was.

He could still remember the day his wife was taken from him, Grace had been only three at the time. It was one of the few times he had ever seen his wife crying. She had been taken from him. He had no clue where she was, in the first year after she was stolen away, he had searched everywhere he possibly could. But none of the lands his hat was connected to had seen his wife, or the man who stole her away. After that year, he put his hat away for good. As much as he wanted to find her, he knew that he had to take of Grace. He didn't want her to loose her father as well.

Jefferson sighed once more before heading back to his mansion, giving up for now.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat sighed, walking over to the diner. After the conversation she just had with Emma, she needed coffee. In the diner, everything was calm, Ruby greeted her with a smile. It was clear that no one outside of the hospital knew that Henry was dying.

As it was a slow hour for the diner, Ruby started to converse with the brunette. "So what's New York like?"

"It's alright, very crowded, especially during the holiday season."

"Really, so have you ever been to the Empire State building?"

"Once, a class trip." Kat responded, thinking of her eighth grade field trip with a smile, it had been quite an amusing event.

"What about any plays, like on Broadway?" Ruby's question just made Kat close her eyes as she thought about her favorite actress from Broadway.

"I used to…" Kat whispered quietly.

"Oh, why'd you stop going?"

"Well," Kat started, looking at the wall as she recalled memories of her mother, "I kinda began to hate plays and musicals after my mother died. She was in a car accident with my father. They were heading back home from one of those plays. Kind of make you not want to watch any more when all you can see is your mother up on stage."

"Oh," Ruby gasped, startled, "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"It's alright, I'd be surprised and kind of freaked out if you did know." Kat stated with a small laugh, though Ruby noticed that it was somewhat hollow.

"My parents are dead too," Ruby said before looking over at her grandmother, "Granny has been taking care of me since I was a little girl."

"Well, its good that you had someone to take care of you," Kat smiled.

"What about you, did a relative take you and your brother in after the accident?"

"Yeah, my Uncle Tobi. He's my mother's half-brother. He took me and Kyle in. Even though he was often away due to his job. He was, hell is still is, there for us when we need him."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The teens had decided to stop playing with the soccer ball an hour or so after they watched the ambulance drive by. Now the two were just wandering the town, chatting.

"So you attempted to play the guitar?" Faline asked, looking at the male in amusement.

"Yeah," Kyle said, flushing red in embarrassment as he thought back to his attempts, "I really wasn't that good. As my sister put it, I wouldn't have been able to carry a tune even if I had a crane."

"What about her, is she musically talented?" Faline asked, causing Kyle to laugh.

"Oh god no! She once attempted to sing along with some cd of hers, and I swear that the paint on the walls was actually starting to peel." Kyle responded. He found the fact that her sister could not sing ironic, considering her parents.

"Heh, I guess your family isn't that musically gifted."

"Not really," Kyle smiled, "Well, sis and Uncle Tobi say mom was a good singer. She played in a couple Broadway musicals."

"Cool. I take it she was the one to sing you lullabies when you were a baby?"

"I believe so. At least that's what Kat told me."

"Why do you say 'that's what Kat told you' wouldn't your mom have told you."

"Umm, no," Kyle said, looking around nervously. He knew most people would pity him, and he really hated that, "Mom died when I was four. My dad too. Car accident."

"That sucks, mate." Faline stated blandly, making Kyle look at her in shock, "What, thought I was gonna pity you. Life is cruel and sucks ass. No use feeling upset over it."

"Heh, you sure are strange, Faline." Kyle chuckled.

"Yep, one of a kind. They broke the mold fearing I would waste the world." Faline joked.

**!**

"Huh?" Kyle blinked. He could have sworn he saw a flash of light vibrating through the town. "What was that?" He turned to his friend, whose head was currently tilted downwards, "Did you see something, Faline?"

"…" Faline didn't respond, she just looked down at herself as if she had never seen herself like that before.

"Faline?" Kyle asked, starting to get worried.

Faline's head snapped up, and Kyle was shocked to see that her pupils were now slits.

"Not exactly~." She said, speaking in a sing-song tone. She giggled at Kyle's confusion before spinning around, "Ah, I can't believe I have been stuck in this human form of mine for nearly three decades. What a shame…" She sighed comically.

"Huh?" Kyle blinked, a bit confused.

"Name's Cait, mate." The girl giggled.

"Eh?" Kyle blinked, confused.

"Now if you don't mind…" Faline, I mean Cait, grinned before her body started to disappear, followed by her head. Soon, all that was left of her was her grin, until that too started to disappear, "I'm gonna go find the prat who dragged me here."

"What the…" Kyle blinked. It took him a moment before realizing exactly what had happened. The Curse was broken.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat was chatting with Ruby still when she noticed a ring of light vibrating towards them.

**!**

Kat blinked, noticing a shift in the waitress' demeanor, "Ruby?"

"Huh?" Ruby blinked, looking at the girl in confusion, "That's not my name."

"It's not?"

"No, it's Red." At her statement, Kat smiled and took a sip of her coffee. Emma had done it! She broke the Curse. The brunette watched as Ruby… Red went to hug her grandmother, happy to have the Curse broken. She watched as the other patrons of the diner cheered, remembering who exactly they were.

But Kat's personal happiness sank when she felt something else.

"What's that!" One of the patrons shouted, pointing to one of the windows. Kat turned around, to see what was going on.

It was a dark purple fog. Rolling over the town, engulfing everything in its path. While Kat did not know the source of this fog, she knew what it was.

Someone was unleashing magic in the town!

* * *

And the Curse is finally broken. Faline... I mean Cait, now remembers who she is, what's she going to do to the Queen though. Just four more chapter until Jefferson and Kat meet.

I would like to thank Madhatter for the review, I'm glad you enjoyed the spoiler. Umm, not really sure what you meant about the fictional multi-verse, did you mean like a crossover between OUAT and those shows you listed? I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you have the other chapters.

Thank you once again, kykyxstandler, for your review. Yes, 'sparkle king', Kat can barely stand Jareth, as you will see much more clearly in later chapters. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, RachelNicole523, I'm glad you are enjoying this story, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!


	12. Ch 12:What Kind of Magic Spell To Use

Chapter 12: What Kind of Magic Spell To Use

_Wonderland_

The Queen of Hearts had been thinking for quite some time. She was thinking of a way to get revenge on Regina. After a long time, she knew exactly what to do to exact her revenge.

The Queen turned slightly so she could speak to her Knave through the horn.

After a few moments, the Knave repeated her words to her guards.

"Fetch the Queen a Cheshire."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

A few moments after the fog disappeared, Kat watched from doorway of Granny's diner as old friends and family were reunited with one another. Kat couldn't help but giggle a bit when Henry called Prince Charming 'Grandpa', the man clearly didn't look like he was old enough to be a grandfather yet.

"Sis!" Kat turned around with a smile, seeing her brother running over to her. "She did it! Emma broke the Curse!" Kyle cheered.

"Yeah, she did."

"What was that smoke though?" Kyle asked as the two started to walk closer to the group.

Before Kat had a chance to respond, one of the nuns had walked closer to the group and answered for her, "Magic." Kyle glanced as his sister for confirmation. Kat only responded with a nod. She didn't actually know these people, so its best they don't get suspicious of the stranger who knows about magic. "It's here. I can feel it."

"Magic?" Henry questioned in surprise before turning to the nun, "But you're the Blue Fairy. Do something magical."

At Henry's response, Kat fidgeted a bit as she looked at the Blue Fairy awkwardly. It was kind of weird that to her that they were getting advice from a fairy when they are considered pests in the City beyond the Labyrinth.

"It's not quite that simple, Henry." The Blue Fairy responded, "No wand, no Fairy Dust, matters are complicated."

"Let's go to the person responsible for bringing it; the Queen." One of the dwarves shouted, causing his brothers to cheer in agreement.

"No, wait." Emma stated, "It wasn't Regina."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Wonderland_

"Did someone call for me?" The Queen did not even turn as she heard a Cheshire right next to her. Much like everything else in this world, the Cheshire clan was a group of cats, all stripped with a toothy grin. The one that formed right next to her striped in two shades of brown, their eyes a forest green color with a yellowish outer ring.

"You will not address the Queen in such a manner or form, Cheshire." The Knave reprimanded, causing the cat to disappear, "Nor should you present yourself to the Queen in that form. Do you wish to loose your head?"

"But I've already lost my head!" The Cheshire replied with an insane grin and childish giggle before appearing in front of the Queen in her human form. She had short brown hair with lighter streaks of brown in it and forest green eyes. She was dressed in a striped shirt in shades of brown and a dark brown skirt with light brown boots upon her feet. "We're all mad here after all!" She continued before spinning around childishly.

"Enough!" The Knave demanded, banging the staff on the ground, "The Queen has a job for you."

"Oh?" The Cheshire stopped spinning, and her grin increased as she looked at the Queen, "And what is that?"

"She requires you to retrieve something from another world."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

The Willis siblings followed the group down the street. They were both curious as to how the unleashing of magic would affect this town.

"Is there anything you wanna ask us?" Mar Margaret… Snow, asked her daughter, "I mean, you must have questions."

"The only questions I have are for Mr. Gold," Emma responded, "Why did he double cross me, and what did he do to this town?"

"Um…" Snow started, " shouldn't we talk about _it_, first?"

"What?"

"Us? Your life, everything?"

"Can we do everything, maybe, later? Like, with a glass of wine?" Emma responded, adding dryly, "Or several bottles…"

Kat smiled lightly at that, recalling saying something similar after she started getting regular visits from Jareth.

"I know it's a lot to take in, for all of us…" David… Charming, spoke up.

"And we don't wanna push," Snow continued.

"But you technically are…" Kat muttered lightly, with Kyle being the only one to hear her. Emma just got her son back to full health and they wanted to discuss family matters immediately.

"But we've waited for this moment for so long-" Snow continued until she was cut off by her fair haired daughter.

"Yeah, so have I!" Emma snapped as she turned to face her parents, stopping her trek, "I've though about this moment my entire life! I've imagined who you might be. But all the scenarios that I concocted, my parents being… I-I just need a little time. That's-that's all." Emma was clearly stressed out.

Kat was about to input to the conversation when she noticed the commotion down the street. "Uh, guys," Kat motioned to the mass of people running through the streets, heading in one direction. As they watched the crowd run by, they saw the local psychologist, Archie, heading over to them.

"There you are!" Archie gasped, "Come with me, I need your help. Dr. Whale's whipped everyone into a frenzy; they're going to Regina's house; they're gonna kill her!"

At the man's last statement, the siblings in the back of the group shared a look. Even though they didn't really know of Regina's relationship with the townsfolk, minus placing the Curse on them and framing Snow, they knew the darkness that formed when one killed in revenge.

"Great, let's watch." Leroy, the dwarf that spoke earlier, responded.

"No!" Archie protested, "No, we cannot stoop to her level. No matter who she is or what she's done, killing her is wrong."

"He's right." Henry defended his friend before turning to face his mother, "_Please!_She's still my mom."

Emma looked at her own mother before saying, "We have to stop them."

"If the Blue Fairy is right and magic is here, Regina could have her powers back. The could be marching into a slaughter." Charming stated before sharing a look with his wife. Neither wanted the townsfolk to be hurt.

As the group took off, the second youngest of the group turned to his sister, "Do you think they're right? About Regina's powers?"

Kat shook her head, "I don't know. Normally I'd say no but who knows how that smoke affected magic."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Wonderland_

"Oh?" The Cheshire grinned, "And what, pray tell, would that be?"

"Regina's father, Henry." The Knave stated simply.

"Ah, a person huh…" The Cheshire giggled childishly, "That's gonna cost a pretty penny."

"How dare you!" The Knave responded fiercely.

"My clan is of thieves and assassins, we don't come cheap." The Cheshire said, her childish demeanor gone, her tone dark.

"You should be honored to serve the Que-" The Knave started to shout but the Queen interrupted, speaking to him. The Cheshire clan were not were not loyal to anyone but themselves, they stole for the highest bidder. Threats did not work well on them as they had the ability to disappear and remove their limbs.

The Knave listened to the Queen's response before turning back to the Cheshire, clearly displeased.

"The Queen offers you ten bags of gold." The Knave stated.

"Ooh~! Shiny!" The Cheshire grinned, childish demeanor back, "I'll do it then."

"Make it quick!" The Knave snapped.

"But of course~!" The Cheshire grinned before her body started to disappear, followed by her head. Soon, all that was left of her was her grin, until that too started to disappear.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

When the group got to Regina's home, they saw Dr. Whale holding Regina against a column by her throat.

"Let her go! Let her go! Let her go!" Emma shouted as she ran over to the two, grabbing the man's arm once she was close.

"Why should I listen to you?" Dr. Whale questioned harshly.

"Because I am still the Sheriff." Emma glared.

"Because she saved you." Charming stated before turning to the mob, "_All_of you!"

"Because no matter what Regina did, it does not justify _this_!" Snow shouted.

"We are not murders here." Emma stated flatly.

"Well, we're not from this world." Dr. Whale responded.

"Yeah, well, you're in it now." Kat responded, glaring at the man.

Dr. Whale glanced at the brunette, noticing her for the first time. While Kat didn't seem to notice it, the man's eyes flashed in recognition. Charming, sensing the slight distraction, quickly placed himself between the doctor and Regina.

"Okay, Whale, we're done." Charming commanded, snapping the doctor's attention back to the matter at hand.

"Back off. You're not my Prince." He responded harshly, causing the prince to be taken back.

"Who are you, Whale?" The confused prince asked.

"That's _my _business."

"Well, my business is making sure this town doesn't go to hell, so, whether or not I'm your Prince isn't the issue. We have a lot to figure out and this isn't the way to do it."

Snow moved over to her stepmother before speaking out to both Whale and the mob he had led, "And Regina's death won't provide any answers. She needs to be locked up. For her safety… and more importantly; for ours."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

Regina was strolling through the halls of her castle with her father. She was waiting for one of her guards to capture Snow White so she could exact the rest of her revenge on her. After what she did, after what happened to Daniel, the only way she could feel satisfied was if everything Snow loved dear was taken from her before she was killed.

"Regina, don't you think you have done enough? You already killed her father." Her father tried to talk sense into her.

"Oh, daddy, I wish it were that simple." Regina shook her head sadly. The hatred she felt for Snow was still there, even after she killed the king.

"But, dear-" Whatever it was that her father was going to say was cut off by a childish giggle. Suddenly, right above Henry's right shoulder a large grin appeared.

"What?" Regina gasped confused, before the rest of the Cheshire appeared. The Cheshire wrapped its arms around Henry's neck from behind as she sent Regina a grin.

"The Queen of Hearts sends her regards~!" The Cheshire giggled before disappearing, along with Regina's father, leaving the queen no time to even react.

"Daddy!" She cried out once she realized her father had been stolen from her.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Kat blinked in confusion as she easily maneuvered a crystal around her one arm. While one might think that it was one of the crystals that she had taught contact juggling to Henry and Paige with, upon closer inspection one would find a swirl of moving colors in the very center of it, barely noticeable.

"Weird." Kat muttered from where she sat on her bed.

After the mob dispersed and Regina was placed in a jail cell, the Willis siblings headed back to their room to do their own research.

"What's weird, sis?" Kyle asked, not seeing what was so odd.

"I was able to summon this crystal so easily." Kat stated as she looked at the ball in wonder.

"And, you always do." Kyle shrugged, used to her displays of magic.

"Yes, but much easier then I normally do. The only time I can easily summon up my magic is when we're visiting the city." Kat explained as she let the crystal float into the air and over to her brother.

"Eh?" Kyle blinked in confusion. He watched as the crystal floated over to him before-

**POP!**

The crystal disappeared and in its place was a chocolate bar.

"Thanks," Kyle smiled as he caught the sugary treat, "I was getting kind of hungry."

"Heh," Kat chuckled before looking out the window, sobering up, "I think I'm gonna go check out the perimeter of town. The fact that everyone here is not back in their homeland concerns me."

"I'll go with you." Kyle said as he stood up from his seat, shrugging his jacket on.

"Okay," Kat nodded, not seeing the harm in that.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

By the time the siblings arrived at the edge of town, night had already fallen. The elder of the siblings stood right in front of border.

"So do you think the Curse was only partially broken?" Kyle asked.

"That might be a possibility." Kat responded, looking around, as if trying to find something.

"So what's gonna happen when you cross town line if the Curse is still intact?" Kyle asked nervously. He didn't want anything bad to happen to his sister.

"I don't know. Henry said bad things happened to those who tried to leave town. That explains my bike breaking down. But now that the Curse is, at the very least, weakened who knows what will happen."

Kat, just in case, reached down and grabbed a pebble and threw it over the town line.

… Nothing.

"Alright," Kat sighed as she straightened up, "Here goes nothing." With that she went to jump over the boarder.

Kyle could only watch in a mix of shock and amazement at what he saw. When Kat jumped, instead of hitting air, she hit a rubber like barrier that was clear as a bubble. He watched as the barrier stretched from the force of Kat's jump. He didn't have time to react.

**BING**

Kat went flying backwards as the barrier bounced back to normal!

"KAT!" Kyle shouted in worry as he watched his sister fly past him and land on the ground a few yards away. She tumbled a few more feet away before finally her body stilled.

"…" For a moment all was silent, "Owww… Never again." With a bit of a struggle, the now bruised and banged up girl lifted herself up into a sitting position.

"You okay?" Kyle asked as he ran over to his sister.

"A bit bruised is all." Kat said as she sent her brother a small smile. She then turned her head over towards where she had just been moments before. "Looks like I can't leave yet."

"As long as you're okay, I don't think I care. I mean you went flying, sis!"

"Yeah, I know," Kat nodded, "Don't worry I'm fi-" She was cut off by the sudden and freezing chill she got running down her spine.

"Sis?" Kyle asked. It was then that wind suddenly started to pick up at an almost impossible rate.

Kat stared in shock at the shadowy figure that suddenly appeared.

"Shit!" She shouted before quickly summoning one of her crystals and tossing it into the air above her and her brother.

**POP**

A barrier formed around the siblings, who watched as the figurewrecked havoc as it made its way towards city hall. They waited until the figure was completely out of sight and the wind had calmed down.

Once it appeared to be safe, Kat released the barrier and the two stood up.

"Wh-what was that!?" The fifteen-year-old exclaimed.

"I think it was a wraith…" Kat said, pale from what she had seen and the strain from conjuring that barrier so quickly.

"What?" Kyle turned to his sister, "I thought they were just myths."

"Yeah, and so are goblins and fairies." She responded dryly. She went to take a step, only to loose balance.

"Whoa!" Kyle exclaimed as he moved to catch her, "You sure you're alright?"

"Uh-huh," She nodded tiredly, "Just used too much magic too quickly."

"Okay."

"We should best return to our room. That wraith might still be here and I don't have the energy to conjure another barrier so soon."

* * *

So, Kat knows magic, wonder how she managed to learn that in a land without magic. Next chapter, Cait/Faline is going to pay Regina a visit and Kat sees Jefferson.

I would like to thank, Madhatter for reviewing once more, I'm glad you enjoyed last week's chapter. Just in case you have not noticed, I update this story every week, sorry if it is not fast enough for you but I've only gotten up to chapter 24 written out and I do not want to catch up quickly and end up making everyone wait a long time for me to finish the next chapter.

Thank you, once again, kykyxstandler, for the review. Yes, you were right about Cait/Faline being the Cheshire... wel, at least one of them. She's not quite a straight forward thinker, she won't try to fully exact revenge for quite some time, around chapter 23 she'll get to deal some damage. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, Dreaming while awake, I'm glad you're enjoying this and I hope you liked this chapter. I update every Tuesday, so you do not have to wait too long.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I would like to ask if all who read this chapter could review, I don't care if you just say you liked the chapter, hated it or cannot wait for the next one, or even if this is the only chapter you review, a review from all of those who read this would be a nice birthday gift to me, I turned 20 today, and since I can't spend it with my family do to my college's schedule I would really appreciate any and all reviews I get for this chapter.

And, as a little gift to those reading this, a small preview from the next chapter:

_"Hey, Paige," Kat greeted._

_ "Actually its Grace," She responded, "How are you doing?"_

_ "Alright, Grace, and you?" Kat said before noticing a flyer in the girl's hands, "What's that?"_

_ Grace held up the flyer to show her hand drawn image of a man, "My papa, I got separated from him before the Curse thanks the Queen, I'm trying to find him."_

_ "Oh," Kat said softly as she noticed the sad expression on the girl as she spoke, "I take it he's your only family."_

_ "How did you know?"_

_ "I was studying to be a behavior analyst in college." Kat explained before noticing the blank look on the girl's face, "Er, I was learning to read people based on their actions. As you spoke your face showed that such sadness that implied that you don't have many people you are close to."_

_ "Oh!" Grace gasped, "Yeah, Papa is the only family I have. He said mama went away when I was really little."_

_ "I'm sorry to hear that." Kat said before picking up her pen, "Do you happen to know your papa's name so I can write it down."_

_ "Jefferson." Grace responded._

Once again, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Reviews would be highly appreciated!


	13. Chapter 13: Something Frightening

Chapter 13: Something Frightening

"And you yelled at me for hiding my pain!" Kyle snapped at his elder sister.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Kat rolled her eyes. She was sitting on her bed, clothed in only what she needed to be modest. All over her body were bandages.

"Kat!" Kyle reprimanded, "If you were injured any worse you would have been hospitalized."

Kat stayed silent for a moment before chuckling, "When you act like that I wonder who is the elder sibling."

Kyle quickly laughed at that, "Well, you tend act reckless a lot."

Kat rolled her eyes in good humor. She did act reckless a lot, mainly when it came to protecting her brother, she knew that. But she didn't think what just happened was reckless. She didn't know what was going to happen.

"I'm gonna go put my night clothes on." She muttered before moving to stand up. As she attempted to stand up, she flinched, her wounds stinging with every movement.

"You okay?" Kyle had noticed her flinch.

"Yeah." She lied, only to flinch again.

"Liar." Kyle responded, "Are you even able to walk?"

"Yeah, just very slowly and _very _carefully." Kat said. If anything, she was stubborn.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next morning, the siblings met up with Red at the diner, which was closed, and offered to help in what ever way they could.

"You okay?" Red asked when she got a good look at her friend, "You don't look so good."

"Couldn't get much sleep last night," Kat responded as she rubbed her eye. Really she couldn't every time she tried to lay down, her wounds burned. Didn't matter what side was against the mattress as she had scrapes, cuts, and bruises all over.

"She was outside last night during that weird storm," Kyle explained, ignoring his sister's glare, "Got a bit ruffed up."

"Oh!" Red gasped, "Are you sure you're okay then?"

"Yes!" Kat snapped, she hated being fussed over like that, "The cuts aren't stinging that much anymore. Can we just go help everyone else now."

Red was bit taken back by the woman's response while Kyle rolled his eyes.

"You heard my sis, what can we do?" Kyle asked, not really fazed by his sister. Stress and injuries made her old anger issues pop back up.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"If you are looking for a family member, come to the front table. If you need counseling, Dr. Hopper has a signup sheet. If the wraith damaged your house, there are cots at the school." Ruby called out.

Everyone was scattered outside of town hall. Some were putting up posters, while other were getting checked for injuries. Kat was over by the front table; writing down list of family members while Kyle was running things over to the school for those who would be staying there.

"Okay, you're looking for your son. Alright, what's his name?" Kat asked looking at the old man, Geppetto. She had feeling she knew who it was, August, but she didn't say any thing as she was not one hundred percent.

"Pinnochio." He responded, looking glum.

"Don't worry, sir, we'll contact you immediately if we get any information." Kat tried to reassure the man before jotting down the name.

A few more people later, Kat was surprised to see a familiar face.

"Hey, Paige," Kat greeted.

"Actually its Grace," She responded, "How are you doing?"

"Alright, Grace, and you?" Kat said before noticing a flyer in the girl's hands, "What's that?"

Grace held up the flyer to show her hand drawn image of a man, "My papa, I got separated from him before the Curse thanks the Queen, I'm trying to find him."

"Oh," Kat said softly as she noticed the sad expression on the girl as she spoke, "I take it he's your only family."

"How did you know?"

"I was studying to be a behavior analyst in college." Kat explained before noticing the blank look on the girl's face, "Er, I was learning to read people based on their actions. As you spoke your face showed that such sadness that implied that you don't have many people you are close to."

"Oh!" Grace gasped, "Yeah, Papa is the only family I have. He said mama went away when I was really little."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Kat said before picking up her pen, "Do you happen to know your papa's name so I can write it down."

"Jefferson." Grace responded.

"Okay, Grace, if me or anyone else hears anything, anything at all, about your papa, we'll tell you immediately." Kat smiled reassuringly at the girl.

"Oh, thank you!" Grace cheered, jumping up and down.

"You're welcome," Kat said, amused by her antics, "Now go post that flyer on the board so people will see it."

"Okay!" Grace said before running off.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Cait looked at the manor that Regina lived in with such hatred that it was a wonder the house was not on fire. She was livid. Regina had taken her away from her home. And now, _now_, thanks to the Curse, Cait was stuck in her human form. She wouldn't be able to go back home. Going from place to place was something she could do easily, but going from world to world was something she needed to be in her true form for.

"You'll pay for this, Reggie." Cait muttered darkly, "No one fucks with a member of the Cheshire clan."

The green-eyed girl suddenly disappeared, and re-appeared in the home she was previously glaring at.

"Hello, mate." Cait greeted the person she was standing behind.

Regina whipped around to see Cait standing there, a pocketknife twirling in her hands.

"Cheshire." Regina greeted, "How… unexpected."

"Yeah, well you should have expected it the moment you trapped me here," Cait glared.

"You kidnapped my father," Regina responded, "You took him to the Queen of Hearts. You should be lucky I was so merciless."

"Merciless," Cait scoffed, "You know the Cheshire clan is trade-for-hire. Yet you were too _weak _to go after the true reason your father was taken. Instead you go and shoot the messenger."

Regina looked at the girl in worry, even if she had her powers she would be wary of the Cheshire. That clan was insane and deadly. If she had thought that Cait would remember, she would have had her locked up in the asylum, not that it would have done much.

"What are you here for, revenge?" Regina asked.

"Originally, yes," Cait responded as she stepped closer to the former queen. Once she was at arms length, Cait moved her hand closer to the woman's face and traced her jaw line with the pocketknife. "But now I've decided I'll just make your like a living hell." Cait dropped her hand, letting a small knick appear by the queen's chin.

As Cait started to disappear, she gave Regina one last warning.

"Better sleep with one eye open, mate."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A while later, Kat noticed Charming arriving in the crowd. She had learned from Henry earlier about what happened to Emma and Snow. She watched as Charming walked over to his grandson.

"Henry. Have you seen Blue?" Charming said before correcting himself, "Mother Superior."

"No," The boy shook his head, "But everyone is looking for you."

Red walked over to the two, followed shortly by others.

"Do we know where Rump… Mr. Gold is?" Red asked.

"Wait. Does the Queen still have power?" Archie asked, worried.

"I thought I would find my boy." Geppetto moaned, "Are the lists complete. He's gotta be planning something!"

"Hey, let me ask you something," Dr. Whale started, "Are the nuns still nuns, or can they, you know, _date_?"

Kat rolled her eyes, hearing the perverted doctor's question.

"Uh, I don't know." Charming responded uneasily before calling out, "Blue!"

"Don't say its me asking." Dr. Whale said as the fairy walked over.

Once the fairy made her way over to the group, the prince turned to her, "Could there be a tree on this side? The way we sent Emma through as a baby… maybe I could go after 'em that way."

"It's possible," Blue simply stated, "but without fairy dust to guide us here, uh, no, it's hopeless."

Kat frowned at that statement. She wasn't an expert on going to and from different worlds, but she knew that she never needed to use fairy dust when she went to visit the goblins or came back. Perhaps it was just because of the world they were trying to get to. Jareth had once told her that different worlds have different rules.

"You'll find another way. In the book, things always look worse before there's good news." Henry reassured his grandfather.

As if fate just loved to jinx Henry, Leroy, or rather Grumpy, came running over with his brothers.

"Terrible news!" Grumpy shouted as he ran over towards the prince, "Terrible news! We were out at town limits." He explained before turning to one of his brothers, "Tell 'em who you think you are, Sneezy!"

"Will you stop calling me that?" Sneezy shouted as he shrugged out of his brothers' grips, "You know who I am. I'm Tom Clark. I own the Dark Star Pharmacy. What's going on here?"

Kat frowned, realizing exactly what was going on.

"If you cross the border, you lose your memory all over again." Grumpy explained.

"And coming back doesn't fix it?" Archie asked innocently.

"If it did, would I have come running in yelling 'terrible news'?" Came Grumpy's sarcastic response before repeating himself, "If we leave, our cursed selves become our only selves."

At that, everyone just started to talk at once while Charming started to move out of the crowd.

"Do we know that anything's gotten out that way?" Red asked.

"I wonder if Mom knows." Henry pondered.

"Help! We need help."

"I can help!" Henry called out to his grandfather, wanting to be useful.

"Don't leave us here!"

"We need something now!"

"What do we do?" Leroy questioned.

"People! Everybody!" Charming shouted, causing everyone to calm down and shut up, "Everybody, meet back here in two hours. I'll tell you my plan to fix everything."

He walked off, with Red soon following him.

"What's the plan?" She asked, curious.

"I don't know, but I got two hours to figure it out." Charming replied before walking off.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kyle was setting up one of the cots when he heard a familiar voice call his name.

"Kyle," Turning around, the teen saw that it was Faline, Cait, standing there.

"Oh, hey," Kyle greeted. He had no clue what to think of Cait now, he had no clue what Cait was like.

"Is there any spare cots here, I need a place to crash." Cait explained.

"Ummm, yeah, I think so," Kyle stated as he glanced at the different cots around the area.

"Thanks," Cait smiled a toothy grin.

"Hey," Kyle decided he might as well ask, "Who exactly are you? Fairy tale wise."

"I believe you would consider me the Cheshire Cat," Cait said, "Though in truth I am just one member of the vast Cheshire clan."

"Woah," Kyle blinked, "Freaking weird."

"How so?"

"Well, its just that my sister is obsessed with Alice in Wonderland and I'm the one whose friends with a real life version of one of its most famous characters."

"…" Cait was silent for a moment, "You still consider me your friend?"

"Yeah," Kyle nodded, "I mean, I don't really know the real you that well but I still consider you my friend."

"…" Cait was silent for a moment, "My clan taught me to only trust fellow clan members. No friends, only family."

Kyle looked over at her before smiling, "Then I guess I'm your first friend!"

"Yeah." Cait blinked at the boy's cheerful demeanor. She never really met anyone who wasn't terrified of her clan, not that she was upset by that, or surprised.

This boy was truly confusing to her.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Jefferson groaned as he woke up. He was in his car, which was upside down. He had been trying to drive over to see Grace at the house she lived in. He was so happy to finally be able to reunite with her. He was happy, that is, until the wraith came by and the storm it brought in caused his car to flip.

Now he was stuck in his car.

Hearing someone near his car, he started to pound on the door, trying to draw their attention. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" He shouted repeatedly until he felt someone open the door. He fell onto the ceiling of the car, still clutching the stuffed rabbit he had bought for Grace. He had brought several toys with him, hoping to give them to his daughter as an apology for leaving her for so long. "Oh, thank you. No one heard me."

"You okay?" Charming asked the man he had just saved. When the man nodded, the prince continued, "Good. That means we can talk." Charming said before pulling Jefferson out of the car.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Everyone was at town hall, waiting for Prince Charming to arrive. Henry was frantically calling the man on his cell phone while Red attempted to calm everyone down.

"Please, everyone, just be patient. I'm sure he's gonna be here any second." Red called out. Just then her Granny walked by, crossbow in her hands. "Granny, do you really need that?"

"We got a lawless town, Ruby." Granny replied, "Damn right I need it."

Kat walked over to Henry, "Any luck?"

"He's not picking up." Henry shook his head.

"I'm sure he'll turn up. Just keep trying, Henry," Kat reassured the boy, or at least attempted to.

**SLAM**

Everyone's heads snapped to the door that just opened. At the door way was Regina, who was very confident. It was like the parting of the sea after that, with everyone backing away from the doors, and Regina.

"My…" Regina commented as she started to walk into the room, "What a nice turn out. No need for a fuss. It's just little old me."

Archie seemed to be the only one balls enough to go near the woman, "Regina, think about what you're doing."

"Bug." Regina tensely told the man as she lifted her hand.

"Aah!" Archie cried out, flying back into a group of people.

"Hey!" Grumpy called out as he ran at the witch. Regina just waved her hand again and sent Grumpy flying to the floor.

**WOOSH!**

Everyone watched as Granny's arrow flew towards Regina, only for her to catch it in her hands with ease.

"How sweet." Regina commented as she lit the arrow aflame. She then forced the fire to go towards the panicking crowd and over their heads before coming back and hitting the town emblem behind her.

Finally, Red seemed to have enough as she marched towards the front of the crowd and stood in front of them as she demanded, "What do you want?"

"Me." Henry called out amidst the crowd, "She wants me." Henry walked over towards the woman who had adopted him, "Okay, I'll come with you. Just… leave them alone."

Regina walked over to her son and place a hand under his chin, smiling, "That's my boy." She then put an arm around his shoulder as she walked him out, closing the doors behind her with her magic.

Once she left, everyone started to panic. Shout of leaving the town soon followed.

Red turned to Kat, who was now standing next to her, "We gotta go get David."

"Yeah," Kat commented as she stared at the people.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Charming plopped the hat on the table in front of Jefferson, the man immediately recognizing it as his hat.

"Can you get me through?" Charming asked the hatter.

"No," Jefferson responded as he wiped his face off with a napkin.

"Can you get them back? Can you get it to work?" Charming continued to question.

That last question caused Jefferson to laugh, "If only you knew." He had tried so hard before the Curse was broken, hell before the Curse even started, and couldn't get it to work.

"Okay, you had a little girl's tea set in your car and a stuffed rabbit toy, so I'm thinking you have a daughter you love. Well, I do, too, and a wife," Jefferson looked down, thinking of his wife and daughter, "and they're out there somewhere, in the Enchanted Forest, or a void. I don't even know, but I'm going to get them back."

"They're in the Enchanted Forest. That's for sure. I just can't get there."

"It still exists?" Charming was shocked.

"It exists. I don't know if that matters since we can't go there."

"So you won't help?"

"I'm a portal jumper, and you destroyed my portal, so you're out of luck." Jefferson responded.

Suddenly, Charming moved forward and pulled Jefferson up by his ascot, "Well, I'm the closest thing left to a sheriff here, so I could just throw you in a cell until you figure out a way."

Jefferson frowned, recalling the Queen of Hearts doing that to him already, "Then all we'll do is both _sit_, stuck… Two lives in our heads, cursed worse than ever." Charming let go of Jefferson in shock, but the man continued, saying what he knew from experience, "Two lives forever at odds. Double the pain. Double the suffering."

Suddenly, Jefferson flipped the table onto Charming and took off. He ran right past two women without once looking at them, just trying to out run the prince.

When Kat and Red found Charming, he was about to go after Jefferson, if not for Red quickly putting her hand out and stopping him

"David, stop!" Red cried out.

"Get out of my way!" He tried to go after the man.

"Regina has Henry!" Red said, trying to get Charming to listen.

"But he has the way!" Charming argued, motioning towards the still running Jefferson.

Kat glanced back to see the man running, though by now he was a bit too far away to get a good look.

"She has Henry. She's threatening everyone." Kat explained, causing Charming to stop, realizing what the two were saying.

"She has Henry?"

"She showed up at your town meeting… the one you missed. Her magic's back. Everyone's panicking. They want to leave town. They're going to lose _everything_."

"Okay. Okay, but I have to go after him first. He's my only hope of finding a way to get Emma and Snow back."

"Okay, back to what?" Red asked, as far as she knew there was nothing _left _of the Enchanted Forest.

"This town is about to come apart. You've gotta do something!" Kat shouted at the man.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat almost went with Red and Charming to stop everyone, until she realized that she'd have to get in a car in order to get ahead of them. Not something she'd want to do. She was terrified of riding in cars, so instead she went back to Granny's to go see her brother.

"Kat!" Kyle greeted his sister, he had gone back to the room after failing to convince anyone to stay in the town, "Did Charming stop everyone?"

"I don't know," Kat shrugged, "They had just left to go stop them."

"The why didn't-" Kyle started to ask before noticing her fidgeting, "Car?"

"Car." Kat nodded. Ever since her parent's death, Kat has been deathly afraid of being in a car. Ironically enough, she felt safer riding a motorcycle than being in a car.

"You think he's gonna save them?"

"I think so."

* * *

I told you Kat would see Jefferson, never said that they'd actually meet each other. (Yes, I realize that's somewhat evil.) Only two more chapters until they actually meet.

I would like to thank, Madhatter for the review, and compliment. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review and for the happy birthday. I'm glad you like Cait's story of being a Cheshire clan, I figured it would be an interesting idea. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, and, as usual, reviews are greatly appreciated. Who knows maybe the reviews will help motivate me with chapter 25, I'm kind of stuck writing it.


	14. Chapter 14: My Baby's Fun Had Gone,

Chapter 14: My Baby's Fun Had Gone, And Left My Baby Blue

The next day, everyone in Storybrooke were living similar to how they used to, be it how they lived in the town or how they lived before the Curse was up to the individual. Kat, deciding to help out some more, started to work part-time at the diner. It also helped with money situation as Granny decided to not charge her room as long as she was working. Kyle also pitched in by being an errand boy for the dwarfs.

Currently, the older sibling was working her shift at the diner. Chatting with Ruby every once in a while. Kyle was down in the mines, pushing carts filled with debris out of the way.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eleven Years Ago_

**SLAM!**

"Kat?" Tobi called from upstairs upon hearing the door slam close.

"Yeah, Uncle Tobi, I'm home." Kat called out as she took off her shoes.

"What took so long?" Tobi asked as he walked down the stairs, fiddling with his tie.

"…" The sixteen-year-old just looked off to the side and held out a single piece of paper.

"Oh, Kat, not again." Tobi sighed before taking the paper, "_Another_fight?!"

"Bitch was calling mom a whore cause of the age gap between me and Kyle." Kat scoffed.

"Kat…" Tobi reprimanded. He knew that many people found it odd that there was a twelve-year difference between his niece and nephew. He was one of the few who didn't, mainly because that was the age difference between him and his half-sister, Kat's mother. "You really need to stop this. You're going to end up in juvie if you keep it up."

Kat frowned, still not looking at her uncle. She didn't want to go to juvie by no means. But she couldn't help it, she got easily ticked off.

"Honestly," Tobi sighed, "If it wasn't for the fact that you've always been so hot tempered, I would think that this was a cry for help." Kat twitched at that comment.

"Yeah, yeah." Kat muttered. She was upset her parents were dead but she wasn't taking out that anger on other people. She preferred to release that anger during fencing practice.

"Look, Kat, I have a date with Maria tonight." Tobi said as he continued to fiddle with his tie, "Can you watch over your brother for me? I should be home by midnight."

"Okay, Uncle Tobi," The teen nodded before reaching over and grabbing his tie, "Here, let me." She then, rather expertly, fixed the tie.

"Thanks, Kat," Tobi laughed, "Its kind of weird you're so good at this."

"Heh," Kat smiled before walking past her uncle, "Tell Maria I said hi."

"Ok, see ya, Kat." Tobi said before walking out the door.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

Henry was somewhat surprised to see the Mad Hatter, who was also called Jefferson, sitting by the dock.

"Jefferson. Right?" Henry asked as he walked over to the man and sat down on the bench next to him. Even Henry could see the slight depression upon his face, "The Mad Hatter. I need your help."

"Look, I already told your grandfather…" Jefferson responded, not looking up from the paper he had been staring at for quite some time, "I can't do anything."

"I know, but there must be something we can do." The ever optimistic Henry protested.

"I'm the wrong person to talk to, kid. Magic's not my thing." Jefferson responded, finally looking up at the boy who was in his daughter's class, "Try your mother. Maybe she's got something in that vault of hers she can help you with."

"Vault?" Henry repeated in a mix of shock and confusion, "Her vault is _here_? In Storybrooke?"

"It's none of my business. Talk to _her_."

"What's that?" Henry motioned to the paper in Jefferson's hand, which the man quickly folded and pocketed, "Your daughter's looking for you, isn't _she_?"

"What do you know about it?" Jefferson snapped.

"I've read your story." Henry stated, "I know how the two of you were separated. Why are you here? She's at school."

"I gotta go home kid." Jefferson said as he stood up, intending to walk home. Henry quickly got up and got in the man's way.

"She probably wants to see you." Henry responded as he held the man back.

"Get out of my way." Jefferson stated, "Get out of my way"

"Why aren't you going to find her?"

"Because I left her!" Jefferson snapped as he shook the kid slightly by the shoulders, "And she'll hate me." How could she _not _hate him after he abandoned her?

"How do you know that?"

"I was on my way, but fate reminded me I shouldn't." Because of that storm, he was reminded of how he had abandoned his child and didn't deserve her.

"You should." Henry stated firmly, passionately, "I've been left, too. Anything's better than nothing. She'll spend her whole life wondering why you left her. Not knowing is the worst."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eleven Years Ago_

"Alright, Squirt, time to go to bed." Kat said from where she leaned against the doorframe.

"Aww," Kyle moaned from where he was playing with his toys.

"Time for sleep," Kat said as she lifted the boy up and placed him on the bed.

"But I not," Kyle started to say before yawning, "sweepy."

"Sure you ain't." Kat smirked as she tucked the boy in, "You want a story?"

"Yeah!" Kyle energetically responded.

"Okay." Kat said before standing up and walking over to her room where all her books are. Scanning through her books, she located the one that her mother favored so much, one that was given to her mother by _her_mother. "This'll do." Kat muttered lightly, it had been a while since she had read it, she hadn't even opened that book since her parents' deaths, but she figured this would be a good story for her brother.

The teen quickly walked back to her brother's room, only to see the boy already asleep.

"Heh, guess I'll save this for tomorrow night." Kat whispered to herself before quietly closing the door. As she walked back to her room, she opened to the last few pages of the book, scanning the lines, "'You have no power over me.' Heh, weird way to defeat the villain."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

Henry's words really hit home with Jefferson. So, when the school bus was dropping kids off at the main street, Jefferson was standing off to the side, hoping to see his daughter there. Soon, he spotted her golden hair amidst the crown of uniformed children. Her back was to him.

"Grace." He called out, praying that she would hear him. The fates must have been very forgiving that day as he watched Grace turn around. To his astonishment, there was no hatred, disappointment, or disgust upon his daughter's face, only joy and relief.

"Papa!" She called out before running to her father, arms open to hug him. Jefferson kneeled down and embraced his girl tightly, trying his best to hide his tears. "You found me. I knew you would."

Jefferson continued to hug his girl as he lifted her up, proceeding to walk her back home.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eleven Years Ago_

"Sissy~!" Kyle called out as he ran down the stairs to where his sister was cooking mac and cheese for the two of them, "Play hides n seek with me!"

"Okay," Kat chuckled, "Just give me a bit to finish cooking. You can go hide now if you want."

"Yay!" Kyle called out before running out of her eyesight. Judging by his loud footsteps, Kat assumed he ran up the stairs, but Kat shrugged it off.

What harm could come from hide and seek?

* * *

And Grace and Jefferson are finally reunited. As promised, next week Kat and Jefferson will finally meet, wonder what will happen?

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. I figured it was somewhat evil, but hey, next chapter they'll actually meet. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, ashanightingale/MadHatter, for the review and PM. I'm glad that you are enjoying this story. I don't think a tornado shall be coming to Storybrooke any time soon. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!


	15. Chapter 15: Put That Magic Jump On Me

Chapter 15: Put That Magic Jump On Me

_Eleven Years Ago_

Kat had finished cooking the lunch for her and her little brother. After putting the macaroni into bowls to cool down, Kat wiped her hands with a small smile.

"Now to find the squirt." She muttered before heading for the staircase that she heard the boy go up earlier. "Oh where, oh where is Kyle?" She heard a childish giggle coming from her room. "Where could he possibly be?"

Kat slowly opened the door to her room. To her confusion, the lights were off, she knew she had left the lights on and Kyle was too short to reach the switch.

"Kyle?" Kat questioned, no longer hearing the giggle. Carefully, Kat moved her had along the wall until she found the switch. Soon she found it protruding from the wall and flicked it on.

**CLICK!**

"What the-!?" Kat gasped at the sight. There were several weird creatures around her room, but that wasn't what her main focus was on. Her brother was halfway _through the mirror_! There was no broken glass, he was walking _through _the mirror.

"Sissy!" A muffled cry came from her brother. It was then that Kat realized that her brother wasn't walking through the mirror, he was being forced through it by the creatures.

"Kyle!" The teen called out as her brother disappeared completely from her view.

Not even think about it, Kat ran head first into the mirror, after her brother.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

Grace was truly happy at the moment. She had her Papa again. She was in her new room at the moment, playing with her stuffed animals.

As she was playing, she noticed a glass snow globe on the shelf. The round glass orb reminded her of something, and of someone. She wondered how Kat was doing, she wasn't really able to see her after the Wraith hit the town. As she thought about the woman who was teaching her contact juggling, Grace thought of something else.

She wondered if Kat and her Papa would get along.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat blinked in confusion when the girl she was waiting on ordered another iced tea. That normally wouldn't seem odd, but it was the girl's _third _iced tea and she hadn't even been at the diner for a full hour yet.

"Another iced tea, Ruby." Kat told the woman behind the counter.

"Another? Do we have to call her a cab?" Red joked.

"I don't think so," Kat smiled.

"I think I'm gonna give her this one, Kat," Red said as she poured the drink into a new cup, "You can wait on some of the other customers."

"You sure?" Kat asked, knowing how busy Red could get with just the counter service.

"Yeah," Red nodded, "Besides, I'm curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat." Kat teased.

"Good thing I'm a wolf." Red joked back. She then walked around the counter and headed for the girl who had ordered the iced tea.

Kat then moved back to other tables, gathering different orders. As she did so, she listened in on the conversation between the girl and Red.

"Thank you." The girl said as Red placed a glass in front of her.

"Are you okay?" Red asked,"That's your third iced tea this morning. Wouldn't wanna have to call you a cab."

"No, I…I've never had it iced before." She explained, "It's… it's delicious."

"I haven't seen you here before."

"Well, I, uh… I've been a _kept_woman until recently." The woman's response almost made Kat choke on her spit, that was really bad wording on the girl's part.

"Let me guess." Red responded, not at all batting an eyelash the woman's response, as she slid into the seat across from her, "Bad breakup?"

"I… think I may be headed there."

"And do you have a place to stay?" Red asked, "Any family here?"

"Uh, I'm… I'm not sure. I'm still looking." She responded, "But I'm on my own for now."

"I could ask Granny about a room here."

"Really? Thanks. Uh…"

"Ruby."

"Belle." She introduced, "What I really need though, is… is a life, a job."

"Well, uh, what do you like to do?"

"I… I do love books."

"The library." Red responded, "It's been closed forever, but, uh, things are changing now. Maybe they need a librarian."

A few minutes later, Belle finished up her iced tea and asked Red for directions to the library.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eleven Years Ago_

Kat blinked in confusion at where she was. After running through the mirror, she ended up a hilltop. The only thing to see was a dead tree that was right by her and a castle off in the distance, surrounded by a huge maze.

"Mighty fine hole you fell down, Alice." She muttered to herself, it had been an expression her mother would say to her whenever she ended up in trouble.

"Have you not learned, Sarah?" A voice called out behind her. Kat quickly turned around, her body tense at the sudden voice. Leaning against the tree was a man, he wore dark leather and tights, clothing similar to something you would see in a Renaissance fair, his hair, on the other hand, was like an eighties' rocker and a pale blonde. But the most striking part of this man were his eyes, one was green and the other was blue.

"Wha-? Who the fuck are you?" Kat snapped.

"Language, Sarah." The man responded, "And have you forgotten me so easily?"

"Where is my brother? What have you done to him?" Kat questioned.

"He is in the castle beyond Goblin City." The man responded, "I suggest you turn back no, Sarah, your baby brother is mine now."

"No way. I am not leaving him here!" Kat snapped. She already lost her parents, she wasn't going to lose her brother too.

"What a pity." He muttered. All of a sudden, a large, antique looking, clock appeared in the tree next to the man. The oddest part of the clock, however was that their was an extra tick on it, and the highest tick was labeled '13', not '12'.

"You have thirteen hours to unriddle the Labyrinth," The man stated, pointing at the clock, "before your baby brother becomes one of us."

"Us?" Kat repeated, confused.

"Forever." The man nodded.

"Fine, I'll solve your damn maze in that time." Kat responded, "And when I find him, and I will. I will kick your-" Kat never got to finish as the man had already left, the clock starting to tick.

Kat sighed before turning back to look at the castle. "So I need to head for castle huh?" Kat mumbled, "Better start." The teen then started to jog towards the Labyrinth.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present_

"Papa?" Grace called out as she entered one of the many rooms of the mansion.

"Yes, Grace?" Jefferson said, placing down the pair of scissors down on the table.

"I was wondering if tomorrow we could go visit someone."

"Who?"

"She was teaching me something called contact juggling. She's really nice and I thought that you should meet her." Grace said, "So can we go visit her tomorrow, please?"

"Sure. Tomorrow we'll go see this woman." Jefferson nodded.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat was surprised to see both Charming and Mr. Gold, or, as she learned from several different people, Rumplestiltskin, enter the diner. While Charming did enter frequently, never had she seen the old man in the diner before. She watched as the two walked over to Red and hand her a flyer.

"Belle, huh?" Red said as she looked at the poster. Her eyes then flew to Rumplestiltskin before shaking her head and handing the flyer back, "Sorry. Doesn't… ring a bell."

Kat walked over to them, hearing the name of the girl from earlier. Glancing at the posture of the older man, it was clear that he was the boyfriend Belle spoke of, and he was truly worried for the girl. "Belle?" Kat questioned as she walked over, "Wasn't that the name of the girl who was in here earlier?" Kat ignored the annoyed look that Red sent her.

"Ruby, listen to me." Charming leaned closer to the werewolf, "If you've come across her, you gotta tell me. I'll make sure nothing bad happens."

"Yeah, but what about him?" Red gestured to the pawn shop owner.

"I've got him. Trust me."

Red sighed, conceding, "As Kat said, she _was_in earlier. She was looking for a job. I pointed her in the direction of the library."

"When do you think she went there?" Rumplestiltskin asked.

"Don't know. But…" Red pulled a sweater out from under the counter, "when you find her, give her this. She left it in her booth."

Kat and Red watched as the older man reached over and grabbed the fabric, "No, that's mine. She didn't have anything for the cold."

His words seemed to have made Red realize something as she turned to Charming, "You sure you'll watch out for her?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I think… I think I can find her." Red responded, "Lately, since things changed, I've been, uh, a little more sensitive to odors."

"What, you can smell her?" Rumplestiltskin asked.

"I guess it's cause of the wolf thing." Red responded before turning to Kat, "Hey, can you take over the counter service?"

"Sure," Kat nodded, "good luck in your search."

"Thanks." Red nodded before leaving with the two men.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Eleven Years Ago_

Upon closing in on the giant maze, Kat noticed a gate with a fountain right in front of it. As she got closer to the gate, she noticed a short man walking around the gate with some sort of sprayer in his hands.

"Excuse me!" Kat called out when she got close enough to the gate. She had noticed the gate was closed and figured that man could open it for her if it was locked.

"Huh?" The man stopped spraying and turned towards the teen, "Oh, what do _you_want?"

"Eh?" Kat blinked in confusion, "I was wondering if you could open the gate for me."

"Hmph, and why should I?" The man, which Kat noticed as he turned to move was not actually human, asked.

"Look." Kat stated, annoyed, "I have less than thirteen hours to get my brother. And in order to start I need to get into that god damn maze, so I'm asking nicely, open the damn gate!"

"Labyrinth."

"Huh?"

"It's a Labyrinth, not a maze." The man shook his head, "I thought you would remember that, Sarah."

"My name's Kat, not Sarah." The teen responded, recalling that the man from before had also called her that name.

"Is that so?" The creature asked, "The name's Hoggle then."

"Alright then, Hoggle, will you the gate for me?" Kat asked, trying her best to stay calm. The clock had only just started, she still had time, no need for her anger to cloud her judgment… again.

"It's- wait…" Hoggle paused his rant to look at the teen in shock, "You said Hoggle."

"Well that is your name." Kat said.

"No one ever get m' name right." Hoggle muttered before sighing, "Alright, alright. I'll open it for you."

**CREAK**

Kat watched as the gates opened by themselves. She smiled and ran towards the gates, calling out over her shoulder, "Thanks, Hoggle."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Time_

Grace happily walked in front of her father during their stroll to the inn. She was finally going to introduce Kat to her papa. She knew that Kat would be happy that Grace was back with him.

"Hey, Grace!" The little girl looked next to her to see that she was now walking beside her classmate, Henry.

"Hi, Henry." She greeted happily, "Going to the diner?"

"No, I was going to see Kat, I needed to ask her something."

"That's where me and my Papa are going." Grace mentioned.

"Grace, slow down a bit." Grace turned to see her Papa run over to her, Grace hadn't realized just how far ahead she had gone, "Your friend isn't going to disappear if you don't run to her place."

"I know, Papa," Grace responded, "I'm just so excited. I haven't seen her since the day after that big storm."

Soon the three made it to the inn and were standing in front of the room that housed the Willis siblings. Henry knocked on the door.

…

No response.

"Are they still asleep?" Henry wondered out loud.

"Maybe."

"Who's asleep?" A sudden voice had the children quickly turn to see who was there.

"Ah!" Grace exclaimed, seeing Kat standing in the hallway. She looked like she had just come from a run, judging from the sweats and sneakers she was wearing. None of them noticed that Jefferson had turned to see the speaker as well, nor the expression on his face when he saw who it was.

"Hey, Grace, Henry." Kat greeted, "What's up?"

Grace ran over to the older woman and wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Papa found me!" Grace exclaimed, "I wanted you to meet him." She then let go of Kat and turned to her father, "Papa, this is my friend –"

Everyone was surprised when Grace wasn't the one who finished the sentence, but rather Jefferson who did.

"Kat?"

* * *

And Kat and Jefferson are finally meeting each other in Storybrooke, should I go find cover and any other means to protect myself after ending it right there? I wonder how Kat will react to meeting Jefferson, and the fact that he apparently knows her, or does she possibly know him. Well, I already know what's going to happen, but you'll find out next week.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Thank you, ashanightengale, for the review. I hope you are happy with the fact that Kat and Jefferson finally met.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, even if I left it at such a painful cliffhanger, and reviews are greatly appreciated, as always.


	16. Chapter 16: Dance Magic Dance

Chapter 16: Dance Magic Dance

"Kat?"

"… Uh, yeah." Kat nodded, "I take it Grace told me about you."

Kat watched as Jefferson's face morphed from shock to confusion, and sadness.

"Papa," She heard Grace say, but was too busy watching Jefferson's expression, "I never told you her name, how did you know?"

"Kat? It's really you, I'm not hallucinating again am I?" Jefferson said. His voice was strained, trying to keep out the desperation he so obviously felt.

"What?" Kat asked, confused. She was sure she had never met this man before, so how did he know her if not from his daughter.

"Don't you recognize me? Its me, Jefferson." He stated, his tone laced with desperation, causing the woman before him shake his head, "I thought you were dead, after that man took you away from me."

"I'm sorry, but what are you talking about?"

"Katrin-"

"Excuse me!?" Kat snapped in shock. She never told anyone in Storybrooke, or really anywhere, what her full name was. She despised it, the only people who knew her full name were her family and former teachers.

"That's your name." Jefferson stated simply.

Kat looked at the man standing before her suspiciously, before glancing at the two children who were watching them curiously, "Grace, Henry, why don't you two go into my room for now. I need to talk to Grace's papa privately." Kat said before handing her key to Grace.

"Okay, Kat." Grace nodded before her and Henry entered the woman's room. Once the door closed behind them, Kat turned her attention back to the man before her.

"How the hell do you know that?" Kat snapped, "No one here knows my full name except for my brother."

"You told me it, Kat, why don't you remember?" Jefferson asked.

"Remember what?" Kat asked, angered. Her mind was already jumping to conclusions as to why he knew her name. He must have had contact with Jareth, he must have asked him to spy on her, why else would he know her full name.

"Remember _us_!" Jefferson snapped, he sounded so angry and depressed and so, so tired, "We were together for _five years_ before you were taken away from me. Don't you remember me, or our _daughter_, Grace!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kat snapped, it had to be a trick, it must have been, "I think I would have known if I had a kid, it'd be kinda hard not to remember giving birth!"

"Kat-" What ever Jefferson was going to say was cut off by the hallway going dark, "What the?"

**BOOM**

Kat gasped as she felt a sudden burst of familiar magic. Ignoring the lightning and thunder, Kat moved toward her room's door and quickly turned the doorknob.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_10 Years Ago_

Kat was sitting in her room, looking through her mother's book. She was taking a break from training her magical skills. As she was looking through the book, she noticed something odd about one of the lines.

"Huh, that's odd." She muttered, "This line sounds odd."

"What do you mean, Katrin?" Jareth asked.

"I told you to call me Kat, _not_ Katrin." She responded, annoyed, "I remember my mom telling me this story when I was young, and the wish was always recited, 'Goblin King, Goblin King, wherever you may be, take this child of mine far away from me!' In the book it's 'I wish-'" Kat started to explain but Jareth cut her off.

"I suggest you do not finish that sentence, Katrin, you know what happens when you make a wish." Jareth said, ignoring the glare he got from the seventeen-year-old, "Years ago, when Sarah had sent her brother to my Labyrinth, she wished for the correct words to send him away. Apparently that had also affected the book, changing the lines to the true words to send people to my Labyrinth."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Only if one is foolish enough to read the book out loud."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

When Grace and Henry entered the room, they were greeted by a plain, though slightly messy, room with two beds.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Henry asked.

"I don't know, but I didn't know my dad knew Kat." Grace responded as the two began to wander the room.

"Yeah, but I guess stranger things have happened." Henry commented as he walked over to one of the nightstands. Upon the nightstand was a leather bound book with gold lettering, much like his own storybook. This book, unlike his book, was much smaller in both length and width. "What's this?" Henry then picked up the book, his eyes scanning the title, "The Labyrinth."

"Oh, a storybook!" Grace gasped, "I love stories."

"I wonder what it's about." Henry said before opening the book to a random page. He scanned the book and began to read the book out loud, "But the girl knew the King of the Goblins would keep the baby in his castle forever and ever and turn it into a goblin. So she suffered in silence until one night when she was tired from doing housework and hurt by the harsh words of her stepmother and she could no longer stand it. So she called out, 'I wish the Goblins would come take you away right now!'"

"This sound interesting." Grace commented before suddenly the lights in the room went out.

"A black out?" Henry asked before looking at the windows, "No, it daylight and there is no sun coming in through the windows."

**BOOM**

Henry jumped slightly at the sudden thunder and lightning. He dropped the book in shock, as he suddenly felt something run past his leg. "Grace?" He called out, having not heard the girl since the room went dark, "Grace?"

The only response he got was a childish giggle. The giggle, for some reason, sent a chill up his spine at the inhuman giggle. There was no way that it was Grace who giggled like that, which made the boy even more nervous.

_**CREAK**_

"Henry? Grace?" Kat called out as she opened the door. She moved her hand along the wall and flicked the light switch on.

To both Henry and Jefferson's surprise, there were several occupants in the room: Henry, who was by the nightstand, and several creatures of different shapes in sizes. The moment Kat flicked the light on, however, the creatures scattered out of the room, actually going through the mirror that was on the vanity.

"Grace?" Jefferson called out, noticing that his daughter was no longer in the room, "Grace?!"

Kat looked around, noticing that her mother's book was by Henry's feet, along with a strange wristwatch, "Henry? Did you read that book out loud?"

"Umm, yeah." Henry said before noticing the watch, "Where'd this come from?" He knelt down and picked up the watch, "Huh? This has thirteen lines on it."

Kat sighed, ignoring Jefferson's panicking and Henry's confusion, "You shouldn't have done that, Henry."

"Where is Grace?" Jefferson demanded. He was furious, he just got his daughter back, only to loose her again.

"In the Labyrinth." Kat responded.

"The _what_?" Jefferson asked.

"The Labyrinth, the Goblins have her." Kat said, "Henry, can you hand me that watch."

"Uh, sure?" Henry said before doing as he was told, "Is Grace going to be alright?"

"Yeah," Kat nodded, "I'll go and get her."

"I'm going too." Jefferson stated, "I lost her once, I'm not loosing her again."

"Look, we can't waste any time." Kat told the man, "We have less than thirteen hours to solve the Labyrinth, which is an always changing maze full of many dangers, and make it to the castle beyond the city to save her."

"I don't care." Jefferson responded, "I'm _not_ loosing her. Not after I just got her back."

"Fine, c'mon." Kat said before turning to Henry, "Henry, you stay here, we'll get Grace." She then grabbed the man by the wrist and ran for the mirror in which the goblins had run through. To Henry's surprise, Kat harmlessly went through the mirror, dragging the portal jumper behind her.

* * *

So... Kat doesn't seem to know who Jefferson is, yet he knows her, I wonder why that is. Will Jefferson be able to get his daughter back and convince Kat about how he knows her. Oh, and before anyone asks, them jumping into that mirror to rescue Grace will not cause them any harm from the Curse, as they are going to another world, not past the border of Storybrooke.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, asianightingale, for the review. You don't really seem that weird, but considering the people who I hang out with I have a high tolerance for weirdness. I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

Thank you, Asery Aseerrmio Ecvoll Asernil, for the review. I update every Tuesday, though the exact time is random through the day. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	17. Chapter 17: No One Can Blame You,

Chapter 17: No One Can Blame You, For Walking Away

_Underground_

Kat stayed calm as she and Jefferson landed on a familiar hilltop.

"What?" Jefferson muttered as he looked around in shock, seeing no sign of the mirror they had just gone through, "There was a portal in your room?"

"I didn't know it until I saw the goblins go through it." Kat stated, though Jefferson noted an underlying annoyance in her words. She looked around the hilltop with a small frown, expecting someone to show up, but when they did not, she sighed and mentally readied herself. "C'mon, we gotta go." She began to walk down the hill, towards the labyrinth, not looking back to see if Jefferson was behind her.

"Hey, wait up, Kat." Jefferson called out once he snapped out of shock. No… he was still in shock, though not about the portal jumping. His wife was walking right in front of him, alive and healthy, but… she didn't remember him, she didn't remember their daughter. Even so, he needed to know what was going on currently, what happened exactly to Grace. Once the portal jumper got close enough, he grabbed the woman by the shoulder, effectively stopping her and making her turn around to face him at the same time, "Kat, I need to know, what happened to Grace. Please, tell me."

Kat frowned as she watched the man's actions. His desperation was true, so he didn't intend for this to happen, but Kat silently reminded herself, that didn't mean he wasn't working with Jareth. Even so… Grace seemed to care deeply for her father, so she might as well be somewhat decent towards him, "Henry read a line from a book I got from my mother. It was a wish to have goblins take someone away."

"Henry caused this!" Jefferson snapped.

"Not intentionally." Kat defended the poor boy, "No one but me and my family knew about that. I didn't expect Henry to start looking at that book, nor to read that line out loud. Either way, we have thirteen hours." She held up the watch, "To get to the castle beyond the city to save Grace before she is to stay here forever. Now c'mon."

The fencing instructor began to pull Jefferson in the direction she was walking, ignoring the feeling she suddenly got in her stomach when he grabbed her hand.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Kyle hummed a random tune as he walked back to the inn he and his sister were staying at. He was helping the dwarves with the mining just a few minutes ago, but eventually they told him to head home and take a shower as he was covered in dust. In a way, he hoped that Kat wasn't there, as she would tease him about getting so dirty.

Soon enough, the teen made it to the inn. When he got to his room, however, he was confused. The door was open somewhat. Cautiously, the teen opened the door all the way.

"What the?" Kyle muttered at the sight before him, "Henry, what are you doing here?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_  
_

_Underground_

Soon enough, Kat was standing before a familiar looking gate. Glancing around, she noticed that Hoggle was not there, and the fairies were just flying around. She watched as one of the fairies flew closer to her. It was just a inch or so away from her body.

**SMACK**

"What'd you do that for?!" Jefferson said, appalled, as he stared at the barely alive fairy that fell to the ground.

"They're pests." Kat shrugs, it was a norm for her. She watched in confusion as Jefferson let go of her hand and kneeled down, picking up the fairy in his hands.

"You almost killed her." Jefferson reprimanded, he knew how important fairies were in most worlds. As he glanced at the mother of his child, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hands. "OW!" He shouted before looking down to see the fairy had bit him. He quickly shook his hand, making the fairy fall onto the ground once more.

"Told you." Kat said before stepping on the fairy, "Now, c'mon." She then proceeded to walk over to the gate, once she was close enough, the gate opened, allowing her and Jefferson into the Labyrinth.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

"Henry, what are you doing here?" Kyle repeated his question when the boy did not respond. He then looked around the room, not seeing any one else in the room, "Where's Kat? She in the bathroom or something."

"Uh…" Henry muttered before suddenly looking panicked, "No… she… Grace… I didn't mean to!"

"Didn't mean to do what?" The teen questioned, it was then that he noticed the book on the ground. "… You read the wish out loud didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to! I didn't know!" Henry cried out.

"Hey, don't worry." Kyle said before kneeling down and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, "I know you didn't mean to. Now who did you send away, was it Kat?"

"No," Henry shook his head, though he was relieved that the teen was not angry, "My friend, Grace, Kat and Jefferson went after her. They went through the mirror." Henry pointed over to the vanity mirror that innocently stood in its spot.

Kyle blinked, before turning his head to look at the mirror, "Oh, sis is gonna throw a fit."

"Huh?"

Kyle didn't seem to notice the boy's questioning gaze as he continued to talk out loud to himself, "Jareth knows how angry she gets when he spies on her."

"Who's Jareth?" Henry asked, causing Kyle to finally turn to look at the boy.

"Someone who is gonna be in _big_ trouble when sis finally sees him." Kyle stated.

"Are they going to be alright?" Henry asked worriedly. It was then that Kyle remembered that the boy's mother and grandmother were currently trapped in another world.

"Yeah," Kyle nodded, "Don't worry, sis will get Grace back."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

The two were jogging through the stone maze, Kat's eyes gazing at the walls for little hints to other entrances. Jefferson's gaze, however was on the woman in front of him. It hurt so badly to be able to see her and yet have her look at him like he was a complete stranger. No… not like a complete stranger, it was worse than that. The moment he called her 'Katrin' he saw the suspicion, the mistrust, in her eyes.

Jefferson was wrong when he thought the pain of watching Grace being raised by someone else without remembering him was the worst pain imaginable. Having his Alice look at him so coldly and without even the hint of trust made him want to just die.

As Jefferson continued to think his sullen thoughts, he noticed Kat had suddenly slowed down considerably. Soon enough she stopped and turned to look at a random patch of the wall. She glanced over her shoulder to look at the man before saying, "This way."

Blinking, the man looked at the wall in confusion, "What way? Its just a wall."

He swore his breath was taken from him when he saw the hard look in his love's eyes suddenly get replaced by amusement, "Things aren't always what they seem. Especially here." He watched as she walked forward, and realized that the patch of wall right there was an optical illusion, "Now the question is… go left or right?"

He walked over to her and looked down the paths. "How about left?"

"You sure?" Kat asked skeptically, "It might lead us all the way back to the beginning."

"Yeah," Jefferson nodded, feeling hurt when he noticed the cold look returning to her eyes.

"Let's go then."

She then turned and started the trek down the left path. Jefferson sighed before following her. It truly hurt him, as she wasn't even this cold towards him when they first met.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

Falling and falling, that's all she's felt in the last few hours. Kat had fallen down a hole while she was exploring the land that was ruled by the Goblin King. Instead of falling into an Oubliette like she expected, or even seeing the Helping Hands, she just fell and fell and fell. There seemed to be no end to darkness that engulfed her vision. If not for the way her hair moved around her, the girl would not know which way was up and which way was down.

Eventually though, the young woman landed, none too gently though more gentle then what her high school physics class taught her it should have been.

"Oof!" She gasped as her back hit the grass, followed soon by her limbs. Opening her eyes, as she had closed them the moment she made impact, Kat realized she was in a forest. It was not the forest that she had often encountered the Fireys in, nor was it any forest in the land she spent the majority of her life in. This place, the magically inclined girl noticed straight away, was filled with magic. She could feel the magic pulsating in the air. Wherever she was, she knew that there had to be quite a few magic users, be they witches and warlocks or fae or fairy, in this land.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

"Kat," Jefferson called out the woman's name, needing her attention. He needed, desperately, to know why she didn't trust him. It was bad enough that she seemed to no longer remember him or Grace, but he had to try and, at the very least, win her trust back. "Why are you treating me so harshly? I know you are not like that with everyone."

"And how do you know that?" Kat snapped back venomously. She knew how Jareth was, he would be low enough to tell someone all he knew about her so that they could gain her trust while they spy on her. He had done it before, and Kat knew that he would probably do it again.

"Kat, I know you." Jefferson said, he needed her to know that, "We were together for five years. I barely was able to keep going on when I lost you, I feared you were dead."

Kat watched his actions closely as he spoke; as far as he was concerned all he said was true. Kat knew that it was difficult to fake the subconscious postures he was making. But even so, she couldn't recall ever meeting him before today. Perhaps Jareth placed a spell on him to make it seem real.

"You are one of Jareth's spies, aren't you?" Kat stated simply.

"Who?" Jefferson asked, the confusion clear in his tone, expression and body language. He truly had no idea who Jareth was. But if that was the case…

"If what you said is true," Kat started to say, the race against the clock momentarily forgotten, "Then how old was I when we met?"

"You were twenty," Jefferson responded, "I remember because we celebrated your twenty-first birthday together. You had told me then that 'girls back home would be getting drunk or gambling, not running around a forest on their twenty-first birthday.' Yet you were still happy, you were only upset that you were unable to see your brother or do any of the birthday traditions your family had such as the cake fight."

"…" Kat was silent at his comment. There was no way Jareth would have been able to tell him about her family having cake fights on birthdays, Kat had made a wish that banned Jareth and any of his 'spies' from her, or her family's, birthdays. She then thought about something that she had not truly thought about in quite some time.

She would have been able to sense a curse that strong. How did she not realize it sooner.

…

She was going to_** kill**_ Jareth when she next saw him.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

"Mighty fine hole you fell down, Alice." Kat muttered to herself, thinking of the last time she had ended up in a world she had never been to before.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Startled, Kat moved to sit up as she looked around for the source of the voice. Sadly, the sudden and rapid movement only made her head hurt and the world seem to gyrate before her eyes. "Guh," She groaned out as she clutched her head and closed her eyes.

"I guess that answers that." She heard the voice mutter, sounding much closer. A few moments later, the brunette felt a presence near her, though she had yet to open her eyes back up. "Here, eat this, it should help." She heard as she felt something press lightly against her lips. Not really caring at the moment if it was poisonous or not, just wanting the world to stop spinning before her, Kat opened her mouth and allowed the food into her mouth. A few moments, the throbbing dulled down to being almost unnoticeable and the world stilled in her mind.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

Jefferson had no idea what he said that did it. But something he said must have triggered something in his wife. He clearly saw the rage that suddenly came to life on her face before she whipped around and continued to walk, or rather storm, down the corridor they were in. He watched, stunned as she moved farther and farther away.

"You coming or what?" He heard her call out as she was about to turn the corner, snapping the portal jumper out of his stupor.

Jefferson nodded, not that she saw, before running over to follow her.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

Opening her eyes, Kat glanced towards the direction of the voice to thank them. The owner of the voice was a man. He had short brown hair and green eyes. His clothing was very Victorian era to Kat, though they were not really the typical colors for clothes from then.

"Thank you, really." Kat said to the man. Oddly enough, Kat was actually feeling her face flush with embarrassment, something she normally never felt around strangers.

"No problem, I take it that was your first time portal jumping, Alice." The man said, causing Kat to look at him in confusion, "I had overheard you talking to yourself."

"I'm not Alice, that was just a saying." Kat said, "And what do you mean portal jumping?"

"How odd to call yourself Alice when that's not your name." He muttered before explaining, "You know, going from one world to another, though I am curious as to what you use as I don't see anything you could have used."

"I didn't portal jump, I fell down a hole and ended up here."

"So is calling yourself Alice a saying?"

"No, that sentence was based off of a book, 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. I just happened to literally fall down a hole."

"Wonderland? Why would someone write a book on Wonderland?" The man said with disdain.

"I don't know why, they just did." Kat said, not at all surprised to find out Wonderland was real, "What's your name, by the way?"

"Isn't it rude to ask for one's name before introducing one's self." The man teased, causing Kat to blush. She didn't know what was wrong with her, she normally didn't act like this.

"I'm Kat."

"Cat? Sorry, but don't see your resemblance to a cat, unless you have a Cheshire grin." The man joked.

"No, Kat, k-a-t. It's a shortening of my name."

"Then what is your name?"

"Sorry, I prefer being called Kat, I don't like my full name very much."

"Well, its nice to meet you, Kat, I'm Jefferson." He introduces himself, putting a hand in front of him. Kat accepts his hand and allows him to pull her up before shaking his hand.

"And its nice to meet you, Jefferson."

* * *

So yeah, Kat and Jefferson are in the Labyrinth to get Grace back, and Kat has figured something out, though I'm not going to say what she realized. I hope the flashbacks that are going to be in this and the next few chapters will help make up for the long wait for those two to meet.(And the cliff hanger from chapter 15...)

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. Yes, Kat is Grace's mother, and there is a good reason that she doesn't remember, and its connected to why she was no longer in the Enchanted Forest. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you, ashanightingale, for the review. Why hold back on weirdness? Glad that you loved the last chapter. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you, Harlequin Shadow, for the review. There is a good reason as to why Kat doesn't remember, something that Kat has figured out in this chapter and will be revealed soon enough. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated!


	18. Chapter 18: Life Can't Be Easy

Chapter 18: Life Can't Be Easy

_Wonderland_

It has been almost a year since Kat ended up in this magical world. Thankfully, Jefferson, the man who she met on her first day, helped her and allowed her to stay with him. He had revealed that his job dealt with portal jumping but, due to the nature of his portal, he was unable to take her back home.

Even though she terribly missed her family, Kat was happy where she was. Several months ago, she had realized why had acted so strange around Jefferson, she felt an attraction to him. Eventually, Kat decided to act on her feeling and was pleasantly surprised when he returned them.

Currently, the two were in Wonderland, much to Jefferson's displeasure, due to a job they were given.

"I don't see what your problem is, Wonderland seems alright to me." Kat commented as they walked through the 10-foot tall grass.

"That's only because you have not yet met the Queen of Hearts or the Cheshire clan, Alice." Jefferson responds, teasing her at the end. Ever since she told him about the story, in great detail as she had practically memorized after how many times she read it, he decided to call her 'Alice' occasionally.

"Well, I still think this place is quite beautiful." Kat smiled, looking up at the sky.

"I think that other world we went to the other day was much better." Jefferson shrugged, "Now come on, we need to get to the Tulgey Woods."

"Alright, alright!" Kat laughed before following the man.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

Kat sighed as she and Jefferson paused in their trek momentarily. She looked down at the watch to see how much time they had left. To her relief, only about three hours had passed since they came to the Underground.

"Shouldn't we try to mark which way we've gone?" Jefferson asks as he looked down the path they had just walked.

"No," Kat shook her head, "The stones would just flip over as there are creatures who live under them."

"You seem to know a lot about this place." The portal jumper mused, "Did you… I don't mean to be rude, but did you send someone here?"

"Sorta." Kat said as began to walk once more, "When I was sixteen, my brother ended up being taken by the goblins. I never actually said the words, but he found a portal to the Underground in my room, not that either one of us even knew of this place beforehand. It didn't matter though, I still had to run through here to save him."

Jefferson was somewhat glad, after Kat had calmed down, at least somewhat, from her earlier rage she had started to be much nicer towards him. He blinked as the path in front of them suddenly changed. "There wasn't a fork in the road before."

"Yeah, that tends to happen…" Kat dryly commented, "So which way should we go?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Wonderland_

Soon enough, the couple made it to Tulgey Woods, much to the relief of Jefferson.

"So what is it exactly that we are supposed to do?" Kat asked. To her surprise, Jefferson was very tight-lipped about this job. Since Kat had first offered to help him with his jobs he had never not told her about the job they had, he tended to tell her before they had even started it.

"Wait, we're still not at the right spot." Jefferson said before walking further into the woods.

"Jefferson." Kat sighed, not at all pleased with the secrecy, but following the man anyways.

Soon enough, Jefferson had led the two into a clearing, stopping once he got to the center. "We're here."

"Ok." Kat nodded before noticing that there was no one else in the area, actually there wasn't really much in the clearing. "Jefferson? What's going on?"

The man turned to look at her, smiling at her lovingly. "Look up, Kat."

"Huh?" The brunette blinked before doing as he said, gasping at what she saw, "Whoa!"

The sun was currently setting, making the Wonderland sky a beautiful purple and red gradient. Fly above their heads, were glow flies, giving the sky an even more enchanting look.

"Oh, Jefferson…" Kat breathed out before looking back down, only to see him holding out something.

"I was hoping that you could do me the honor of becoming my wife." Jefferson asked softly, still holding out a ring towards his love. It was two simple bands of gold that twisted together before opening up at the top to hold onto the green jewel that was cut in an oval shape.

…

If the way she was currently kissing him was any indication of her answer, Jefferson was sure she accepted.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

Jefferson was amazed when he suddenly saw the stone walls of the Labyrinth give away and become a forest. It almost reminded him of the forest that he used to collect mushrooms with Grace in.

"Frick." He heard Kat mutter, causing him to look at the woman curiously, "Fireys are not really pleasant to deal with."

"What are Fireys?" Jefferson asked, confused. He had never heard of such creatures before.

"They're-" Kat began to say before she cut herself off. They had just entered a clearing that was currently occupied by a bonfire and five orange furry creatures. "Those things." She finished lamely.

Jefferson looked at the creatures in surprise. In all of his travels, he hadn't seen a creature that quiet looked like these before. They were bipedal creatures that stood about four feet tall. They were very lanky, though their hips seemed to be very wide considering the rest of the body. They all seemed to have long, beak-like muzzles and pointed ears, though the exact shape of the ears were different on each one. But the real surprise was when they suddenly started to remove their limbs with ease and little care. He visibly winced when he saw one of them remove their own head, memories of his imprisonment in Wonderland coming back full force.

It seemed to be at that precise moment that the Fireys noticed the newcomers. The creatures started to crowd around the duo, causing Kat to tense and Jefferson to look at them in curiosity.

Then they began to do something that actually freaked the Mad Hatter out more than their easily removable body parts: they began to sing and dance.

"Come on, let's get out of here." Kat whispered to Jefferson as he listened to the creatures sing about their fire gang. Jefferson felt his Alice grab his hand before starting to lead him out of the crowd of Fireys, trying to be discreet as possible. Sadly, they noticed the escape attempt immediately.

"Hey, lady, where you going?" One of them asked as two of them blocked the humans' path.

"You two gotta take off your heads too!" One of the other Fireys said, causing Jefferson to stiff somewhat. He really didn't want to loose his head again.

"Back off!" Kat shouted at them, but they ignored her, reaching out for the duo's heads.

Jefferson flinched backwards as one of the Fireys attempted to grab his head. From the corner of his eyes, he saw one of the other Fireys grab Kat by the hair, attempting to tug off her head.

"Her head won't come off!" The Firey called out.

"It must be stuck on." The one attempting to take Jefferson's head responded.

"Oi!" Kat shouted as the Firey tugged harder, "I said _back the fuck off_!" She lifted up her foot and kicked the Firey roughly in the chest, causing the torso the fall behind him and his head to fall down. She then reached up and grabbed the hands that were still in her hair and ripped them out.

Quickly she then moved around and then started to grab the heads off of the Fireys and throwing them as far as she could, ignoring their protests.

"Hey!"

"That's not your head, Lady!"

"You're not supposed to throw some else's head!"

"C'mon!" Kat shouted before running off, Jefferson at her heels.

The two ran through the forest, dodging the Fireys who were chasing them because they were angry over Kat throwing their heads.

"Shit!" Jefferson cursed when he realized when the two ended up at a dead end. There was a cliff side in front of them, and a group of angry Fireys behind them.

"Crap…" Kat muttered, noticing how they were trapped as well. Kat looked back to see the Fireys closing in on them. Silently to herself, Kat wished for a way out.

**WHOO! WHOO! WHOO!**

"What was that?" Jefferson asked, hearing the odd call.

**Rumble… Rumble…**

The humans watched in amazement as a group of rocks and boulders, of both large and small, fall around them and go after the Fireys. They watched as the rocks chased the Fireys, which caused the pests to flee from their chase.

"Kaat! Fweind." A voice rumbled near the two, causing them turning to see who spoke. Jefferson noticed that the voice belonged to another creature. It was very tall and very fury, with orange-brown fur. He had long dark horns that came out of the sides of his head and curled slightly downward. He had a gentle look on his face, despite the two large fangs protruding out of his lower jaw.

"Ludo!" Kat cried out happily. To Jefferson's surprise, she ran over to the creature and hugged him, wrapping her arms as much as she could around its waist. "Thank you for the save, Ludo."

"Kaat, welcome." Ludo responded.

"What?" Jefferson blinked.

Kat let go of Ludo and turned back towards the man who she had recently met, "This is Ludo, he's a friend of mine." She then turned back to the gentle giant, "Ludo, this is Jefferson, his daughter accidently got sent here and we're trying to get her back. Do you mind helping us?"

"Ludo help." Ludo nodded.

"Thank you." She grinned appreciatively.

Jefferson then watched in pure amazement as Ludo started to howl.

**WHOO! WHOO! WHOO!**

The humans watched as several boulders start to form a staircase, allowing them to climb up the cliff side. Soon enough, once Ludo stopped howling and the rocks were all in place, Jefferson and Kat began the next leg of their journey.

* * *

**I am soooo sorry for the late posting of this chapter. Yesterday I was busy with one of my newest classes and completely forgot about posting the chapter when I got home.**

As an apology, here is a small preview of next week's chapter:  
_Soon enough, they were over the bridge and away from the Bog, something that all of there noses were thankful for._

_ "Well now we can breathe easy." Jefferson commented as they continued to walk._

_ "Thankfully the bridge was still in one piece." Kat responded, "The first time I came here the bridge had collapsed and I had to travel by hoping on stones that Ludo summoned. One wrong slip and I would have ended up in the Bog."_

_ "Glad you didn't, that stink would have made it hard to be near you." Jefferson joked._

_ "Oh, shut it." Kat responded as she playfully hit him on the shoulder. Since she had realized he wasn't one of Jareth's spies she had really warmed up to the guy, though she tried to ignore the tingle she got up her spine every time she grabbed his hand, or butterflies in her stomach from just talking with him._

_ She understood what it was, but for now she was going to ignore it._

So yeah, this chapter explains why Jefferson referred to Kat as 'Alice' in the first few chapters, and how he proposed. When I was writing this chapter, I was trying to figure out what to write to extend their journey in the Labyrinth, as well as make it more interesting. That was when I remembered the Fireys, and as I was writing them in I realized just how much they would scare Jefferson (As I doubt having one's head removed would _not_ mentally scare them.) so, yeah, that explains why Jefferson didn't really fight back when the Fireys were trying to take his head.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. Don't worry, I can assure you that she will get her memories back eventually, though I won't say when. I'm glad you enjoyed the flashbacks. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, ashanightingale, for the review. Honestly, the only part of you review that really shocked me is that you dream about tea party between yourself, Kat and Jefferson. I didn't think my fanfics were worthy of being dreamt about by anyone.

Thank you, sonotalady, for the review. I'm glad you are enjoying the story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, Harlequin Shadow, for the review. I'm hope you enjoyed this chapter as mush as you did the last chapter!

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	19. Chapter 19: It's Not Always Swell

Chapter 19: It's Not Always Swell

Soon enough, the trio had finished climbing the stairs and made it to the top of the cliff. They were greeted by a horrible stench.

"Oh god." Jefferson moaned as he moved to cover his nose, "What _is_ that?"

"Smell." Ludo whined as Kat pinched her nose close.

"We're at the Bog of Eternal Stench." She explained, "Try to avoid all goo. If you step in it, you're never getting rid of the smell."

"Got it." Jefferson nodded, "How much time do we have left?"

Kat held up her arm and looked at the watch, "Six hours."

"How far away are we?"

"Who knows," She shrugged, "For all I know we are only a bridge crossing away from the city."

"Great…" Jefferson sighed.

"Hey," Kat placed a hand on his shoulder, causing the man to look at her, "We'll get her back. Don't worry."

Jefferson smiled sadly at her. For a moment, he could delude himself that she remembered their love. He only wished he knew why she had forgotten him and their daughter.

The three began to walk closer towards the stench, much to all of their dismay. To Jefferson's disgust, he saw as he got closer to the bog that it bubbled every once in a while and when the bubbles popped, it sounded like a fart.

"Guh…" He muttered. In all honesty, this entire place was horrid. He would rather be in_ Wonderland_ than here again, and he despised that place. He just wanted to get Grace and get out of there.

"Yeah, this bog sucks ass." Kat called out over her shoulder, having heard his moan.

"More like smells of ass." Jefferson commented, causing Kat to laugh. That brought a smile to Jefferson's face. At least he could still make her laugh.

"Once we cross the bridge we'll be away from the smell." Kat reassured him.

"So did you have to go through here when you were here last time?" Jefferson asked.

"Sadly," Kat responded, "Just be glad we didn't have to deal with the Oubliette and the Cleaners."

"Why?"

"I almost ended up chop meat if it wasn't for a gap in the wall." Kat explained.

"Oh."

Soon enough the trio ended up at a large rope bridge. Jefferson noticed that Kat and Ludo didn't move to get on the bridge, actually slowing to a stop once they got near it. Confused, Jefferson moved forward, about to go onto the bridge when he felt something jump on his head.

"Wha-!" He exclaimed trying to get the object off of his head. He realized it was another creature, judging by the shouts it was making and the fact that it was striking Jefferson in the head.

"Try to trespass will you!" The creature exclaimed as it continued to attack the poor man.

"Ow!" He cried out each time he was struck by the creature's rapier.

"Sir Didymus!" Kat called out, grabbing the creature's attention, "Stop. He didn't know!"

With the creature on his head momentarily distracted, Jefferson took the opportunity to grab it and remove it from his head. When it was moved to arms length, Jefferson got a good look at him. It was fox-dog creature, wearing clothing that looked like it belonged in the renaissance, and a black eye patch covering its right eye.

"Unhand me, good sir!" Sir Didymus cried out.

"Jefferson, let him go," Kat agreed with the creature, "He bites."

Quickly, the brunette placed the fox-dog down, he did not want to be bitten a second time.

"Why did you attack me?" He asked.

"No one is to cross this bridge without my permission." Sir Didymus explained.

"And how do I get permission?" Jefferson asked.

"You ask him for it." Kat shrugged, added when the portal jumper sent her a bewildered look, "It isn't the oddest thing here. You should see the Helping Hands."

Not even going to question that, Jefferson turned back to the warrior, "May I have permission?"

"Most, good sir." Sir Didymus nodded before turning to Ludo and Kat, "And M'lady and my brother, as always, still have my permission."

"Thank you, Sir Didymus," Kat said, bowing slightly as she did.

"You are quiet welcome, M'lady." Sir Didymus bowed in return, "Would you require an escort?"

"No, thank you." Kat responded, "We really must hurry."

"It was good to see you, M'lady." Sir Didymus replied, "And you, as always, my brother."

"Bruther." Ludo echoed.

"Can we go now?" Jefferson impatiently whispered to Kat. They only had a few hours to get to the castle.

"Yeah." Kat nodded. "Well, good bye, Sir Didymus."

"Farewell, M'lady, Good Sir and my brother." The fox-dog said as the trio began to walk over the bridge.

"So I take it you met him before?" Jefferson asked as they crossed the bridge.

"Yeah," Kat nodded, "He helped me out when I first came here."

"How can he stand living here?" Jefferson wonder out loud, having noticed the little house right by the bridge.

"He actually enjoys the smell." Kat laughed, "Something that Hoggle hates."

"Hoggle?"

"Another friend of mine from here." Kat explained, "He was actually the first person I met on my way through. He got forced into becoming 'Prince of the Land of Stench' by the Goblin King. I'm surprised we didn't see him while we were here."

"The Goblin King?" Jefferson asked, though he shouldn't have found it all that surprising. They had to get to the_ castle_ beyond the city after all.

"Yeah," She nodded, realizing she had not yet really mentioned him, "He is the one who we have to find in the castle when we get there."

Soon enough, they were over the bridge and away from the Bog, something that all of there noses were thankful for.

"Well now we can breathe easy." Jefferson commented as they continued to walk.

"Thankfully the bridge was still in one piece." Kat responded, "The first time I came here the bridge had collapsed and I had to travel by hoping on stones that Ludo summoned. One wrong slip and I would have ended up in the Bog."

"Glad you didn't, that stink would have made it hard to be near you." Jefferson joked.

"Oh, shut it." Kat responded as she playfully hit him on the shoulder. Since she had realized he wasn't one of Jareth's spies she had really warmed up to the guy, though she tried to ignore the tingle she got up her spine every time she grabbed his hand, or butterflies in her stomach from just talking with him.

She understood what it was, but for now she was going to ignore it.

"Kaat!" Ludo called out, causing the humans to look up to see the gentle giant pointing at something.

Several meters away was a large wall. There was a large, at least ten feet tall, gate with a just as large statue in front of the doors attached to the wall.

"The Goblin City!" Kat cheered before looking at her watch, "We got two hours, c'mon!"

Once more, Jefferson was dragged by his wife towards the gates, though Jefferson understood the rush. They only had two hours left to get Grace back.

* * *

Only two more chapters left until we come to the conclusion of this journey. Will Kat remember Jefferson? Will they get Grace back? Will they find out who took Kat away from the Enchanted Forest to begin with? Why am I even asking you these questions when I know the answers to them myself? Well, excepting the last one, you'll find out in the next two weeks.

Thank you, ashanightingale, for the review. Sadly, there will not be any scenes of Grace captured, something that will be explained why in chapter 22. But yeah, Kat is probably going to give Jareth hell. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. Yeah, the fireys are pretty creepy, I remember they used to scare me a bit when I was little. I'm glad you enjoyed the proposal scene. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and, as always, reviews are greatly appreciated!


	20. Chapter 20:Don't Tell Me Truth Hurts

Chapter 20: Don't Tell Me Truth Hurts

Soon enough the trio was at the gates, which were closed by the time they got there. Stepping backwards, Kat looked up to the top of the wall to see a couple of goblins up top on patrol.

"Hey!" Kat called out to them, "Open the gates!"

"And why should-" The one goblin started to call out before he noticed who had shouted, "R-Right away, miss!"

Jefferson watched in shock as the goblins up top scrambled to open up the gate.

"Impressive." Jefferson told his Alice.

"Thanks." Kat said, still looking up at the goblins. Thankfully, Jefferson had not noticed the glare she gave the goblin that had started to say no.

Once the gates were open the three headed into the city.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**_  
_

_Enchanted Forest_

"Shh, shh!" Kat shushed the three-year-old, trying to calm her down.

"Is she alright?" Jefferson asked, worried.

"Yeah, she just fell down," Kat commented, "But you're fine aren't you, Grace?" She smiled down at the little girl she was rocking back and forth.

"Y-yeah." Grace nodded between tears.

"Aww, there's my strong Grace." Kat smiled as she wiped her daughter's tears away, "Would you like some stew?"

"Uh-huh." Grace nodded.

"Okay," Kat gently put down Grace over by a little table that was cluttered with a tea set and stuffed animals, "You play here while mommy go gets you your stew." She then leaned down and kissed her daughter's forehead before standing back up and walking towards the kitchen, Jefferson following her.

"You're amazing, you know that?" He asked as wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I just did what I saw my own mother do with my brother." Kat shrugged, before her eyes turned sad. It had been five years since she last saw her little brother.

"You miss him and the rest of your family." Jefferson stated, knowing how badly she missed her family.

"Yes." Kat agreed, "But don't forget, you and Grace are my family too." She then turned around and kissed him softly on the lips, "I wouldn't want to be away from you two either."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

Jefferson had seen crazy before. He had experienced while he was in Wonderland. But never, _never,_ did he think he has seen anything as crazy as Goblin City.

There were goblins of all different shapes and sizes running amuck through the streets, and even a couple of chickens as well. He saw a couple of cannon balls, and smaller goblins, flying through the air and striking buildings and creatures alike.

It was pure insanity.

"How are we going to get through them all?" Jefferson asked out loud.

"We walk." Kat said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world, before walking forward.

Jefferson had expected her to get hit as she walked. Instead, to his utter amazement, the goblins started to calm down and move out of her way as she walked. There was now a clear path from the gate to a few feet in front of his wife. Not wanting to have the crowd close up again, Jefferson quickly followed his Alice, with Ludo not too far behind them.

"How did you do that?" He questioned once he got next to her.

Kat shrugged in response, "They were like that last time too."

"I hope this means we'll get to the castle faster."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest  
_  
Kat was walking through the forest at the moment. She had already put Grace to bed for the night, so she decided a nice walk would be nice. Jefferson was gone for the moment; he had left to complete a job while she stayed behind to take care of Grace. She had chuckle at the thought; if her uncle had found out his hot-tempered, violent-prone niece was basically a stay-at-home-mom he would probably faint in shock. She never would have thought that she'd willingly choose to be so domestic, that is until she first held Grace in her arms.

As she walked through the forest she felt the magic that she had grown accustomed to. Unlike back home or in the Underground, there were many magic users in a very close range. Back home there was nearly none, only ones in the world being those who traveled to her world and those who were like her, though they were few and far between. In the Underground, while there were many, _many_ magic users, most of whom were fae, they were all scattered around the huge place that was the Underground, only coming together for balls and such.

At first it was very odd, especially since one of the magical beings were fairies and no one here thought of them as pests but rather beings of pure good, something that she doubts actually exists.

Even with all the magical creatures around her, she never once told her husband that she could use magic, rarely even using it since she came to this world. One might think she was silly for it, she knew that one of their regular clients, Rumplestitskin, thought as much, but she feared he would think ill of her for the use of magic. Or worse, that she used magic on him. She knew she would never do such a thing, she hated using magic on anyone, against them sure but never had she used magic to directly affect someone. It was a fear she had ever since she started learning magic, that people would think she would control others with it.

As she felt for the magic in the air, something she tended to do as a way to stay calm, she suddenly felt two spikes of magic in the air, both from familiar sources, though only one she expected. The one she expected was Jefferson coming back through his hat, but the other…

"Why is _he_ here?" Kat muttered to herself before running towards the source of magic. _He_ was too close to her home for her to be comfortable.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

Within a half hour, the trio made it to the castle. Upon entering it, the first person they saw was a short male wearing a white shirt, brown pants and boots, and a red cap. Just one look at him was all Jefferson needed to know that he was not human. For a moment, he wondered if this was the Goblin King who had his daughter.

"Hoggle!" Kat greeted happily.

Apparently not…

"Eh?" Hoggle turned to look at the trio. It was then that they saw he was chatting with an even shorter goblin, "Oh, its _you_."

"Good to see you too, Hoggle." Kat said, unfazed by his tone of voice.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

"We're looking for _Jareth_." Kat said, and Jefferson quickly noticed the venom in her voice when she spoke the name, "Where is he?"

"His majesty is in the throne room." The goblin answered, "I was supposed to be in council with him but he has been ignoring everyone. He was going to make me mayor."

"Oh be quiet will ya!" Hoggle snapped at the complaining goblin, "But he's right, I don't know what's happening but he is refusing all of his meetings."

"Throne room, huh?" Kat muttered before turning, "Ludo, can you stay here, I think this should be just between me, Jefferson and Jareth."

Ludo grunted in response but walked closer to Hoggle.

"Come on, we better go." Kat said to Jefferson before leading him towards the corridor that lead to the throne room.

"WAIT!" The goblin cried out, "Can you remind him of his decision to make me mayor!"

Kat rolled her eyes, ignoring the goblin. She knew of him, and his feelings towards the fact that a non-goblin was the Goblin King. She just continued to walk, determined for the fight that would come once she saw the King of Goblin City.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

Kat panted when she made it back to her home, having run all the way there. Once she caught her breathe, she looked up to see a familiar face standing right outside her home.

"Katrin." He greeted her.

"What are you doing here," She asked, not showing her irritation at the use of her full name, "Jareth?"

* * *

Next chapter we will get to find out exactly what happened to Kat back in the Enchanted Forest and the conclusion to Jefferson & Kat's journey in the Labyrinth.

Thank you, midnighthatter, for the review. Kat will, probably, punch Jareth... though I won't say when. Yay, chocolate is always good. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. Next chapter you'll find out if they get Grace and Kat's memories back. I hope you loved this chapter as well.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	21. Chapter 21: Cause It Hurts Like Hell

Chapter 21: Cause It Hurts Like Hell

_Underground_

Soon enough, the two made it to throne room. It is a large room with a high roof, and its walls are decorated with large stone Goblin heads. There were several freestanding torches, as well as many other candles and torches kept in brackets on the walls. A large throne sat towards the back of the room, and backed by a large, curving bone hung with dully-colored drapes. The most noticeable thing was the shallow pit is in the middle of the room. Sitting sideways on the throne, riding crop in hand, was the Goblin King.

Whatever Jefferson thought the Goblin King would look like was not what he saw. The Goblin King could pass as a human with ease, though he really didn't know what race the King was. He had long pale blonde hair that was very wild. He had sharp eyes that were two different colors, one of green and one of blue. He wore all black, from his leather boots that ended just under the knees, to his tights, to his poet's shirt and black gloves. Adorned around his neck was string of leather that connected to an odd, triangle-shaped symbol.

Jefferson felt his fists clench upon recognizing the man who sat in the throne.

"Jareth." Kat growled out, gaining the King's attention.

"Ah, Katrin," The King greeted, "So nice to see you again."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

"That isn't how you should greet someone you have not seen in five years." Jareth chastised.

"That would entail that your presence is welcomed," Kat retorted coldly, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here for you, of course." He spoke as if it was not obvious.

Luck did not seem to like her that night as it was at that time that her husband returned to their home.

"Kat?" Jefferson asked, noticing her standing outside of the house before seeing Jareth standing there, "What's going on? Who are you?"

"This is a private conversation, I suggest you stay out of it." Jareth snapped at the portal jumper before turning to the woman, "I've come to take you back with me."

"How did you even know where I was?" Kat asked.

"I had some help," Jareth responded, "Several of my colleagues were kind enough to tell me of two portal jumpers, one of which that matched your description."

"Well you wasted your time," Kat explained, "I am not going with you."

"Who said you had a choice." Jareth said before grabbing the girl by the wrist.

"Hey!" She shouted in protest, trying to move her wrist out of his grip.

"Leave her alone!" Jefferson called out, marching over towards the fae.

"I told you to stay out of this." Jareth responded before summoning a crystal and throwing it at Jefferson's feet.

**POP!**

Roots came up out of the ground before wrapping around Jefferson, immobilizing him.

"Jefferson!" Kat cried out, fearing for his safety before turning to Jareth, "Leave him alone."

"Its time for you to come home." Jareth stated before summoning another crystal. He threw it at their feet.

**POP!**

The two disappeared and the roots removed themselves from Jefferson, before sinking back to the ground.

"KAT!" Jefferson cried out.

His wife was gone…

Kat was gone.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

"Give us back Grace." Kat demanded.

"That really isn't how you should greet someone you have not seen in quite some time." Jareth reprimanded as he stood up from his throne. He started to walk toward the two.

"Jareth…" Kat said through gritted teeth, "Give Grace back right now. Do not make me say those words if I don't have to. You know that her coming here was an accident."

"You…"

Jareth and Kat momentarily stopped their conversation to see Jefferson glaring fiercely at Jareth. His fists were clenched so tightly that Kat worried he would loose circulation or start bleeding.

"Do I know you?" Jareth asked dryly before getting a good look at the man, "Ah yes, now I remember you."

"First you took my wife and now you've taken my daughter!" Jefferson shouted. He was beyond pissed. Why was this man constantly ruining his life? Even the Queen of Hearts and Regina were not this keen on making his life so miserable.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." Jareth scoffed.

"Jareth…" Kat reprimanded, "Send Grace back to Storybrooke, _now_! _You have no power over me_!"

A frown appeared on Jareth's face before he summoned the ever familiar crystal and let it drop to the ground.

**POP!**

"She is back home," Jareth said.

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Jefferson snapped.

"He is." Kat said simply, "Those words mean end game, he has to return the child if those who ventured through the Labyrinth tell him that before time runs out."

"So we can go home?" Jefferson asked, after today he just wanted to go back home with his daughter.

"Not quite yet." Kat said before glaring at Jareth once more, "We need to talk."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke_

Henry and Kyle were just sitting in the hotel room, hoping for the return of Jefferson, Kat and Grace. They had been sitting there for several hours now. Kyle had left momentarily to grab food from the diner for the two.

**POP!**

Henry and Kyle blinked in confusion. Out of nowhere, Grace appeared lying on the ground, clearly unconscious.

"Grace!" Henry called out, jumping off the bed and over to the girl. Kyle followed him, kneeling down once he got to the girl. "Is she alright?"

"I think so." Kyle nodded, "It looks like she is just asleep."

"Where are Kat and Jefferson?" Henry asked after a moment, realizing that the two adults that went after the girl were not back as well.

"I don't know," Kyle frowned, "Normally they would return _with_ Grace."

Kyle wouldn't tell Henry, but he feared for what was currently happening. Not for Kat or Jefferson that is, but rather fear for what Kat was going to do. He knew how much she disliked Jareth, and since he did technically spy on her…

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

"What do you need to discuss with me about?" Jareth asked.

"What the hell did you do?" Kat demanded.

"What do you mean?"

"Two years ago, you told me I was in a Curse-induced coma for five years!"

"Yes," Jareth nodded, recalling the conversation, "What does that have to do with this?"

"Everything." Kat stated firmly, "What the hell did you do to my head?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"I have been speaking with Jefferson, he knows stuff about me that I wouldn't tell just_ anyone_." Kat stated, "He _knows_ me. And what you told me about the coma always did seem odd."

"How do you know he is not lying."

"You know I took behavioral studies in college." Kat glared at him, "I know he is telling the truth. Now I want you to tell me the truth: What the _hell_ did you do?"

"…" Jareth stared at the girl for a moment before sighing and answering, "I did what I had to."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You were lost. I was unable to locate you because of the specific land you were in. I was only able to find you because your brother wished it." Jareth explained to her, "When I found you, you were rather… uncooperative. I had to resort to _drastic_ measures."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Two Years Ago_

Kat and Jareth reappeared in her bedroom. Once the two were there, Jareth let go of Kat's wrist.

"No!" Kat shouted before glaring at Jareth, "Take me back! Take me back there, right now!"

"It was nearly impossible for me to get there the first time." Jareth told her, "A return trip is unlikely. Besides, you are back where you belong now."

"No," Kat shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes, "I belong back there. With _them_. Please, Jareth, I am actually begging you: take me back."

"I will not do that, Katrin." Jareth said firmly.

"I swear, Jareth," Kat started, tears running down her face as she glared at the man, "If you don't return me there. I will do what ever it takes to get back there."

"I was afraid you would say that." Jareth said before summoning a crystal.

"Wh-what are you doing?" The girl was to emotionally drained to fully comprehend what was going on.

"I am sorry, but this need to be done." Jareth said before holding the crystal above Kat's head.

**POP!**

A pile of glitter fell over Kat. Her eyes rolled back as she suddenly collapsed onto her bed. Jareth just stared at the girl blankly before exiting the room.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

"Kyle knew…" Kat muttered to herself before going back to glaring back at the Goblin King, "Give them back."

"Give what back?" Jareth asked.

"My memories. The ones you hid away from me. Give. Them. Back."

"And what makes you think I have them?"

"Jareth," If anything, his comment made the girl's glare intense, "I swear if you don't give me back my memories I am done. You think it's annoying that I won't be your heir already, what about if I completely ignore you and your relation to me."

By this point, Jefferson looked at his wife in confusion. He didn't understand what she was talking about. What did she mean about him being annoyed with her refusal to become his heir? There was a relationship between the two besides him being a kidnapper?

"Don't say things that you would soon regret." Jareth stated, glaring right back at her.

"Oh, trust me, there is no regret here." Kat responded fiercely, "I fucking swear, Jareth, if you do not give me back those memories, I will _never_ step foot in the Underground again. And just to be sure, I'll make that same wish that mom made all those years ago."

It was at that sentence that the glare on Jareth's face dropped into a sour frown. What ever it was that Kat was talking about, Jareth did not want that to happen. By now though, Jefferson was beyond confused and wanted answers.

"Kat, what is going on?" Jefferson asked, "You've been here before besides freeing your brother? What did you mean by relationship?"

"Yes, I've been here before, Jefferson, loads of times." Kat told the portal jumper, though not once taking her eyes off of Jareth, "I have been comeing here since I was sixteen."

Surprisingly enough, it was Jareth, not Kat who answered Jefferson's second question.

"She is of my kin." Jareth explained, causing Jefferson's eyes to widen.

"What?" He exclaimed. That was too much of a shock. The one who took his wife away from him was her father. Why would he do such a thing?

"Technically, yes. He is my biological father." Kat spat out. It was clear that Kat did not like the idea of being related to the Goblin King.

"Technically?"

"I'd rather consider the man who raised me for the first sixteen years of my life my father that this pompous ass." Kat explained.

It was then that Jefferson started to notice some similarities between the two. Kat's eye shape was very similar to Jareth, though not as sharp, and they had the same nose. But what really showed that they were related were the identical glares they currently had on their faces.

"Now, I suggest you give me back my memories, Jareth," Kat demanded, "Before I make good on my threat."

Jareth stared at his daughter for a moment before closing his eyes with a light sigh. He then summoned a crystal and, much like what he had done two years ago, held it over the woman's head.

"When you wake up, your memories shall be back." Jareth explained to her before concentrating his magic into the crystal.  
**  
POP!**

Kat's eyes rolled into the back of her head as she suddenly fell backwards. She would have hit the ground if not for the fact that Jefferson had caught her in time.

"What was that?" Jefferson demanded.

"A spell to retrieve her memories. She will wake in a few hours." Jareth explained as he walked back to his throne.

Jefferson looked down at Kat, seeing the peaceful look on her face as she dreamed. "Are you going to send us back?"

"I suppose." Jareth said before summoning another crystal, which tossed up above the two.

**POP!**

And Kat and Jefferson were no longer in the Underground.

Jareth sighed as he plopped down into his thrown. He knew that town was wrong, that it contained people from another land. He had even realized that it was the land that he had retrieved Katrin from.

He should have made that dream even worse, make it so she wanted to get home quick as she could. He knew that she would eventually figure out what he did if she stayed in that town long enough. That was something he didn't want to happen.

Then again, when did he ever get anything he wanted from that girl, or her mother. He had her mother for just a short year before she had decided to leave him. He did not even know that she was with child when she left, only discovering it sixteen years later.

He finally had what he had wanted most, an heir. Sadly, by that time she had already made up her mind about him and refused. The best he could convince her to be was an ambassador between the other lands of the Underground.

When he brought her back from that world and she had told him she would do whatever she could to go back there, Jareth knew he had to remove her memories of that place. He was barely able to get there because of Kyle's wish for him to find Kat. If Katrin had tried to go back there by magic, especially considering how inexperienced she was compared to him, she would have most likely not survived the journey.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke_

Kyle had set Grace onto his bed, glancing at the worried Henry as he did.

"Henry," Kyle called out, catching the boy's attention, "Don't you need to tell your grandfather where you are?"

"Oh!" The boy's eyes widened as he realized that he had spent almost the entire day there. He quickly jumped up, grabbed his backpack and headed towards the door. As he exited the room he called out over his shoulder, "I'll be back, call me if they come back before I get back."

"Heh," Kyle chuckled. The kid reminded him of himself when he was about his age. After a moment, he calmed down and just looked into space blankly, "Where are you sis?"

**POP!**

It seemed that was the magic words as no sooner had he muttered that had his sister and who he suspected was Jefferson were back.

"Sis!" Kyle jumped up before realizing the twenty-seven-year-old was lying in Jefferson's arms, unconscious. "What happened?"

"Jareth gave her back her memories." Jefferson said, not once looking up at the teen.

"What!?" Kyle asked, "What memories?"

"The ones from when she was in the Enchanted Forest for five years… with me." Kyle watched as Jefferson tenderly moved a stray piece of hair out of Kat's face.

"Uh, maybe you should put her on the bed." Kyle said, too much in shock to really react. Jareth had not told him of where Kat had been. All he knew was that she was knocked out when she came home. From the way Jefferson was looking at his sister, Kyle knew that the two must have been close. He had seen his uncle giving Aunt Maria that look before, and in the photos of his parents.

Jefferson walked over to the unoccupied bed and gently laid Kat down on it. Looking up at the teen, he asked, "Where's Grace? Is she alright?"

"Grace is fine." Kyle said as he gestured to the other bed in the room where the girl was asleep in, "She's just asleep."

"Thank goodness." He heard Jefferson mutter before the portal jumper walked over to his daughter to place a tender kiss on her forehead.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Two Years Ago_

Kat groaned as she started to stir on her bed. She didn't understand why, but she had a major headache and her body felt very stiff.  
**  
Creek**

She heard the door open as she struggled to open her eyes.

"Huh?" She heard a familiar voice mutter before it gasped, "Sis! Uncle Tobi, she's waking up!"

She heard two rushed pairs of footsteps. One pair was that of the person in the room as they ran from the doorway to her bed while the other was running towards her room. Soon enough she was able to open her eyes, though it took some time and energy.

"Sis?" The person hovering over her called out.

Kat stared at the person in confusion, it sound like her brother, and somewhat looked like her brother. But… her brother was eight years old, this kid was clearly a teen.

"Wha-?" She spoke, and was surprised to find her throat to be so dry.

"Sis!" The thirteen year old cried out before hugging the poor girl.

"Wait!" Kat struggled to say, "Who… who are you?"

"Kat…" The teen looked at her sadly, "It's me, Kyle."

"But-" She started to say but was cut off by another familiar voice.

"You were unconscious for _five years_, Kat." Tobi explained to the poor girl, she had no idea what was going on at the moment, "Jareth found you in Goblin City knocked out. Apparently you went near a very nasty curse."

Kat nodded, ignoring the nagging feeling in the back of her head that something about that sounded wrong.

"I'm just so glad you're back, Sis!" Kyle said before tackling his sister into another hug.

"Owww." Kat muttered lowly, unlike when he was little, the kid's tackles really hurt now. Even so, she wrapped her arms around her brother in return. She may not have realized she was asleep for so long, but she was glad to be back.

* * *

Did anyone expect Jareth being Kat's biological father, granted if you browsed through my dA gallery you would know. Next chapter we'll see if Jareth actually gave Kat back her memories or not. So, yeah, just one more chapter before we go back to a more episode-based story. I will apologize now, and at the end of the next chapter, as the next chapter is supposed to be rather emotional and I'm... not good at display or writing emotions. So if the emotions don't really come off right next chapter, I'm really sorry.

Thank you, midnighthatter, for the review. No, Jareth did not fall for Gracie-Gracia-Grace-Grace. That was only Sarah. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, I'm glad you found the chapter interesting. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I hope you all enjoyed the chapter.


	22. Chapter 22: You'll Find Someone True

Chapter 22: You'll Find Someone True

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Kat groaned as she started to stir on her bed. She didn't understand why, but she had a major headache and her body felt very stiff. She struggled to open her eyes, but was eventually able to. Glancing around, she realized she was back at the room she was currently using at Granny's inn.

Wait…

Back?

It was then that the memories came rushing back to her. Of Grace being taken by the goblins, of her going into the Labyrinth to get her back with Jefferson, of realizing that Jefferson was not a stranger to her.

Jefferson…

Kat bit back a gasp as she remembered him. How on earth was she ever able to forget him? And Grace! Oh, that explained why she was so willing to do as the girl asked, she was her daughter, something her subconscious must have recognized.

She had missed out on seven years of her daughter and husband's lives. No… more than that thanks to the Curse. Kat looked at the ceiling sadly, wondering if her husband and child would not want her back into their lives, she wouldn't blame them. She didn't try to fight against Jareth enough, she should have realized what he was going to do and stopped him. Then she would have been able to find a way back to them.

"Ugh…" She heard a groan come from the other bed.

Thinking it was her brother, Kat turned, thankfully she was regaining her ability to function properly quickly, to look at him. To her surprise, there were two figures on the bed, neither her brother. Her brown eyes looked over the two figures, smiling bitter-sweetly. She had always thought Grace would grow up to be beautiful, and she really was quiet a lovely girl.

Another groan was heard as green eyes fluttered open.

"Huh?" Grace muttered, still waking up, "Wha? Where am I?" Soon enough, the ten year old was wide-awake and sat up. Looking at the bed across from her, she saw Kat laying on it, eyes shut tightly. "Kat?" She muttered before looking behind her to see her sleeping father behind her, "Papa?" A look on the floor between the two beds showed another figure lying down, a pillow on the floor to support his head, "Kyle? What's going on?"

Grace's words, while they were mainly quiet, were not quiet enough for the girl's father to not stir. Soon enough, the portal jumper was awake as well. Opening his eyes, the first thing he noticed was his Grace sitting on the side of the bed, looking downwards. It took Jefferson a moment to realize where he was, and recall what had happened.

"So it wasn't a dream…" He muttered quietly to himself. He had dreamed all types of scenarios in which he would find his wife, it wouldn't have surprised him if this was a dream as well. But, waking up at that moment, with his daughter near him and his wife just on the other bed, he knew that this was no dream.

"Papa?" Grace asked quietly, having noticed him stirring.

"Yes?" Jefferson responded, trying to be quiet and not wake his wife or her brother.

"What happened?" She asked in confusion, "I remember Henry reading a book, and then the lights went out. And then I felt something grab me and pull me away."

"I'll tell you in a bit, Grace." Jefferson said, "When everyone is awake." The brunette looked over to the other bed, his eyes trailing over the occupant's face. He frowned lightly when he noticed some moisture peeking out between her lashes. What was Kat dreaming about that was causing her to cry?

Kat kept her eyes closed as she heard the two speak. She wasn't really sure what to do. She was, quiet honestly, scared. Scared that when she woke up, Grace would hate her for leaving and Jefferson would hate her for not trying hard enough. She was terrified of them feeling like that.

A yawn coming from the floor revealed waking of the younger Willis child. Soon after the yawn, the blonde teen opened up his eyes. As he rubbed he eyes, he sat up and looked around the room, recalling mentally what had happened the night before. Eventually the teen started to stand up, stretching his sore back as he did.

"Thanks for letting us use your bed last night." Jefferson thanked the teen.

"Eh, no problem," Kyle waved the man off. He felt it was the least he could do, after all, it was Kyle who asked Jareth to find Kat, which resulted in her being taken away from the man. People might call the kid an airhead but he knew that the look Jefferson gave his sister was that of love.

"I guess we should wait for Kat to wake up." Jefferson commented as he looked at the basically motionless woman lying on the bed.

Kyle turned away from the portal jumper to look at his sister. As he looked her over, he frowned ever so slightly, though neither fairy tale character knew of it. After a moment, the boy turned around and spoke to his, technically, brother-in-law, "Why don't you two go back to you place, change your clothes or something while I wait for Kat to wake up. It could be a while until she wakes up for all we know. I'll call you as soon as she wakes up."

Jefferson hesitated for a moment, scared that she would disappear if he left the room, before nodding, "Alright. C'mon, Grace, we're going home for now." He took his daughter by the hand before leading her out of the room.

Kyle stood in the middle of the room, staring at the door blankly for five minutes before he turned to his sister's bed and gently nudged it with his foot, "C'mon, sis, I do that fake sleeping trick all the time. You can't fool me. They're gone."

Kat opened her eyes slowly before sitting up, her head tilted forward so her brother could not see her face.

"Why didn't you want them to know you were awake?" Kyle asked as he plopped down on his bed, "Seriously, Kat, I figured you would want to see them."

"Did you really know?" Kat asked quietly. If it wasn't for the fact that the room was so quiet and Kyle was only two feet away, he wouldn't have heard her at all.

"What?"

"Did you know," Kat said, a bit louder, her voice obviously shaking as she spoke, "That I was not in coma for five years but another land."

"I-"

"Don't. Lie. To. Me." Kat snapped before her brother could respond, "Jareth said that he was only able to find because you wished it."

"Yes, I did." Kyle nodded, "You were missing for so long, sis, I was worried."

"Did you know he took away all of the memories I had during those five years?"

"No, not at first," He shook his head, "I thought he had found you in that coma."

"So you didn't know that he took me away from my husband and child." Kat stated.

"No, sis. I only learned that you were with someone during that time last night." Kyle explained to her, "Jefferson had mentioned it when he came back with you." After he spoke, he noticed that his sister's shoulders were shaking. "Sis?" He called out, causing the girl to look up. To his surprise, the older girl was crying. Tears were pouring out of her eyes with ease. He was shocked, he had only really seen his sister cry once before, and that was out of fear. This... this seemed to be more of sadness than fear.

"Wh-what if they hate me, Kyle?" She sobbed out. Kyle was shocked at how… how broken she sounded. He always saw his sister as a pillar of strength, to see her like this…

"Why would they hate you?"

"I left them, Kyle, I left them and wasn't able to go back to them!" His sister was hysterical, something he had never really seen. Sure, his uncle had told him that when their parents died she was really upset, but he could never imagine her like that. His sister was someone who never showed sadness. He had seen her happy, sarcastic, angry beyond all belief, determined, but never had he seen her upset, and to see her as upset as she currently was, it scared him.

"Sis," He muttered before moving over to his sister and wrapping his arms around her. She let out a startled gasp before doing the same to him, resting her head onto his shoulder as she did.

"I hadn't wanted to leave them, Kyle!" She cried out, "As much as I had missed you, Uncle Tobi and Maria, I-I couldn't leave them."

"It's not your fault, sis," Kyle attempted to comfort the distraught girl, "And I seriously doubt they hate you."

"I-I wouldn't blame them if they did." She sobbed out, "I didn't try to fight Jareth enough. I should have done more, I should have-"

"Sis!" Kyle reprimanded the girl, "It wasn't your fault. You know Jareth wouldn't have given you time to react, that's the way he is." She continued to cry silently as her younger brother held her close. "Sis, I saw the way Jefferson looked at you when you two came back from the Underground. There is absolutely _no way _he hates you."

Kat pulled back slightly and looked at her brother in the eyes, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," He nodded, "He gave you the same look I see in dad's eyes in all of those photos you showed me of him and mom." That caused his sister to break out into a small smile as she started to wipe away her tears. "Why don't you go take a shower, and I'll call them, you have Grace's cell number, right?" At her nod, he continued, "We all really need to talk, so I think its best we should do it sooner rather than later." He then let go of his sister and got off the bed, grabbing the girl's cell phone so he could call her family.

"Kyle…" He looked over at her, seeing her still sitting on the bed, "Thank you, I-I don't know what I would have done right now without you."

"Its no problem, sis," Kyle smiled gently at the woman, "I'm just happy I'm able to help you now. I can't help but blame myself somewhat for this and you've been taking care of me since I was little, I want to be able to help you."

Kat smiled back at her brother, grateful for all he was currently doing before slowly standing up. A shower sounded really good right now.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A, newly fixed, motorcycle pulled up to the front of an exquisite mansion. The two people on it slowly reached up and pulled off their helmets. The driver's, shoulder length, brunette hair swayed a bit at the removal of the helmet, unlike the passenger's short blonde hair.

"Damn…" Kyle muttered as he stared at the home in shock. When he had called Jefferson, to plan the meeting, the man had suggested for them to have the discussion at his home, as there were probably some private topics they needed to discuss.

"I'll have to agree with that." Kat muttered, for once not reprimanding him for cursing. She remembered them making a good amount of wealth with Jefferson's job, but she did not think it equated to this here.

"We sure this is the right place?"

"You're the one who wrote down the address."

"Right…" Kyle drawled out before glancing at his sister, "You ready?"

"Yeah." Kat sighed, "I believe so."

"It'll be alright," Kyle reassured her as they got off of the motorcycle.

"I hope you're right, Kyle."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Inside Jefferson's room, the hatter was pacing around nervously. The moment he left the inn, he realized he was scared. Would Kat forgive him for leaving Grace for so long, for breaking his promise? Would she act as cold towards him as she had thought he was working for the Goblin King?

She would be arriving soon, along with her brother. He could not wait to see her again, yet he was also scared to her reaction to him after she has regained her memories.

He knew Grace had already loved her, and she did not even know that Kat was her mother yet, so he had no worries about Grace not accepting her mother. He was more worried that Kat would not forgive him. He had feared that Kat would hate him ever since he had gotten stuck in Wonderland.  
**  
DIIIING DOOONG!**

Jefferson jumped slightly when the doorbell rang. Well… It was now or never, Kat was waiting outside of the front door.

"Papa, they're here! They're here!" Grace cried out in happiness as she ran into his room. She didn't know the exact reason for the Willis siblings to be here, but that didn't matter, she liked them, especially Kat, so she was glad to see them. Maybe, once her papa was done talking to them, they could all have a tea party together.

"Alright, Grace, let's go show them in." Jefferson said before leading her towards the front door.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat fidgeted slightly as she waited for her husband to open the door. She was very anxious. Sure, Kyle had calmed her fears about Jefferson's reaction, but not her daughter's. Had he told Grace yet about why they were coming over, or was he waiting for them? If he told her, would she be angry, or pleased to see her? Would she easily accept her back into her life, or would Grace outcast her?

It actually took all of her willpower to not bolt from this place, not for eternity but just until she could gather her strength. She was so, _so_, worried about Grace not accepting her. Why wouldn't she? Kat despised Jareth since she met him when she was sixteen and even more so when she found out he was her father, it would make sense that Grace would despise her upon finding out that she was her mother.

**CREAK**

The door finally opened, revealing Jefferson and Grace inside the mansion.

"Kat, Kyle!" Grace greeted the two from where she was by her papa's side.

"Hi, Grace." Kat greeted in response, feeling tears form in her eyes. This was the first time, since regaining her memories from Jareth, that she has seen her baby girl. Looking at her, she could easily see the features that came from her family, and what she inherited from her father. How on earth did she not notice the resemblance earlier.

"Come in." Jefferson spoke up, moving out of the doorway so they could enter. As his wife walked in, Jefferson couldn't help but take a good look at her. While most would find her clothing casual, being a t-shirt and jeans with a pair of boots, he couldn't help but find her beautiful in them. It might have to do with the fact that he was separated from her for so long, but he couldn't help but watch her every movement. It was… comforting, to say the least, to know she was there with him.

"So…" Kat trailed off, not really knowing what to say, "Where should we have this discussion?"

Her question snapped Jefferson out of his thoughts. "Right! Right." He looked around the hallway for a moment before turning to his daughter, "Grace, can you bring them to the living room while I go make some tea?"

"Okay, papa." Grace smiled at her father before turning to the siblings she had formed a close bond to, "Follow me, guys."

"Alright." Kyle shrugged before following the girl.

Kat silently followed behind her brother, glancing back at her husband who was clearly watching her walk off. She felt her face flush slightly at the thought. Obviously, Jefferson's ability to make her feel like a shy schoolgirl with a crush had not changed.

Jefferson smiled lightly as he watched Kat turn her head forward and she walked a little quicker, still following her brother. He had noticed her blush. In a way, it reassured him that she might still be in love with him. After all, he knew that she wasn't the type to easily blush, with the exception of when she was around him though. He had seen her not even bat an eyelash at some embarrassing moments or perverted/flirtatious comments she received from people they encountered, but she blush at the slightest touch or smile she received from him.

After he saw her disappear from his line a vision did he finally move towards the kitchen to go make the tea.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Within a half hour, the tea was served and the four of them were sitting in the living room. There were two couches facing each other, with a table in between. Kat and Kyle sat on one couch while Jefferson and Grace sat on the other.

"So…" Kyle started, trying to ease the awkward tension. No one really knew how to start off this conversation that was about to happen. "Where should we start?"

"Papa?" Grace asked her father, "What happened last night, when the lights went out?"

"I can answer that for you, Grace." Kat spoke up, causing the girl to look at her, "That book Henry read has some magical properties. The one line he read out loud was basically a spell."

"A spell!?" Grace gasped in shock before realizing something, "Wait, I thought you were from this land, and this land had no magic." It wasn't as if that was hard to figure out, even with the conversations she heard the adults have from time to time. There wasn't magic in the town before that fog, so there must not have been magic in this land at all.

"Mostly, there isn't." Kat explained to her, "There are a few magical objects in this world, and a few people who can use magic. But most keep it a secret as magic… well, it wasn't very safe to talk about magic back when there _were_ a lot of magic users in this land so everyone who knows magic here tends to keep that secret to themselves."

"Can you use magic?" Grace asked, tilting her head slightly as curiosity got the better of her.

Jefferson looked over at his wife, curious as well. He had never seen her use magic before, but it was clear that Jareth knew magic, so it was possible that she knew as well.

"Yeah," Kat nodded before holding out a hand. Within seconds a crystal orb formed in her palm. "What would you like me to do?"

"Ummm…" Grace thought for a moment, "How about a rainbow?"

"Alright." Kat nodded, it was a simple enough spell. Concentrating on the orb, Kat tossed it into the air, in an arc, towards Grace.

**POP**

Jefferson watched as the crystal Kat threw in the air disappeared, only to be replaced by a spectrum of colors.

"Wow!" Grace gasped, amazed, "That was incredible!"

"Well, Grace," Kat said, getting back to their original conversation, "As I was saying, Henry accidently called out a spell. This spell allowed goblins to come and take you to their city in the Underground."

"Goblins?" Grace repeated.

"Yes, goblins, they aren't all bad. Most are actually just mischievous at most. But they have to obey that spell no matter what." Kat told her, she didn't want her daughter to fear the goblins, "Your father and I went after you, and we went through this large and complicated maze, called a Labyrinth to rescue you."

"Really?" Grace asked, looking between Kat and her father. The two nodded, which caused the girl to beam at them, "Thank you, then."

"I felt somewhat to blame as it _is_ my book after all." Kat shrugged her off. Getting Grace back was easy compared to when she had to get her brother back, mainly because the goblins were not trying to attack her, not counting the Fireys.

"Grace," Jefferson spoke up when he saw his little girl start to stand up, "There is still some things we need to discuss."

"Really?" Grace asked, her head tilted once more in confusion.

"Yes," He nodded before glancing at Kat, "Do you remember your mother, Grace?"

"Not much," Grace shook her head, "I remember she used to tell me bed time stories, but never sang lullabies. I remember how she used to have tea parties with me. I remember you telling me that she was taken away from us when I was little. Why are you asking, Papa?"

"Do you," Kat started to say, hesitantly, but she still managed to catch the little girl's attention, "Do you recall how your papa knew my name before anyone told him it?"

"Yes," Grace nodded.

"That's because we had met before, Grace." She told her child.

"Really?" Grace asked, "But you didn't look like you recognized him."

"That's because the man who was holding you captive, Grace, had also taken away Kat's memories of us ever meeting." Jefferson explained to his daughter as he stood up.

"I thought you said I was taken by goblins."

"You were, Grace," Kat reassured the girl, "But the Goblin King is the one who had you in his possession as we ran through the maze. When we were in the Labyrinth, I had realized several things I knew about myself didn't add up, especially with some of the things your father told me. After we rescued you, I demanded the Goblin King to return my memories to me." Kat honestly had no idea how she keeping so calm at the moment, she was going to find out if Grace hated her soon enough.

"How did you know he had them?"

"I've dealt with him before." Kat told her, she really didn't want to tell the girl about that part of her heritage, at least not yet. "I was told that I was in a coma for five years, when in fact I was actually in the Enchanted Forest. It was the Goblin King who took me away and, to make sure I wouldn't try to go back, he took my memories of that place, and the people I had met there, away."

"I don't understand." Grace commented after a moment, "What does all this have to with mama?"

"Grace," Jefferson gestured for his girl to stand up and the led her over so she was standing in front of Kat, "Grace, Kat _is_ your mother."

Grace's eyes widened as she stared at Kat in shock. It was almost as if this was the first time she saw her, or at least, _truly _saw her. "Mama?"

Tear welled up in Kat's eyes, once more, as she stared at Grace, "Yes, Grace, I'm your mom."

...

Tears were now leaking from both Kat and Grace's eyes as the two embraced, mother and daughter reunited.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After all the tears were shed, Grace sat down next to her, wanting to be close to her mother.

Kat was very grateful to find out Grace was not mad at her for leaving, she understood that Kat had not left of her own free will. She didn't know how she would react if Grace had hated her.

"So…" Kyle finally spoke up, having been just watching since him and his sister entered the house. He needed to bring up a topic that needed to be discussed, "Now what's going to happen?"

"What do you mean?" Jefferson asked, looking away from the two most important people in_ any_ world to him. He was glad to see them reuniting and getting along well.

"With Kat, you. I mean what's going to happen now that Kat has her memories of you guys back?" Kyle explained.

"Well," Jefferson glanced at his wife before turning to his brother-in-law, "I was hoping that Kat would be stay here, with Grace and me."

Kat looked at Jefferson at his statement, she really hadn't thought about what would happen after they reunited, as the pessimist in her wouldn't let her. "I would like that, Jefferson, I'll call Uncle Tobi in a bit to tell him I'm dropping the lease on my apartment."

"But, sis," Kyle started, needing to get her to realize something, "What about if everyone in Storybrooke finds a way to return to their home?"

"What?" Kat muttered, confused.

"It took Jareth a year after I made that wish to find you for him to get you and bring you back." Kyle told her, "It isn't as easy to travel between this world and theirs as it is the Underground."

Kat blinked as she realized what her brother was saying. Would she, if she had to choose, stay here with her brother, or with her husband and child? "I…" She paused, "I… Honestly, I don't want to think of making that choice."

"Kat-"

"Kyle," The woman stopped her brother short, "How would you feel if you had to make a choice like that?"

"Kat," Kyle started, a sympathetic smile on his face, "I was going to say that, I was going to tell you that if came down to it, you should go with them."

"Wha?" Kat blinked in confusion, startled by her brother's words. Of all the things she expected her brother to say, that was not one of them. Her brother always wanted to spend time with her and be by her, when he was little she had to drag him into his kindergarten class and have the teacher distract him when she left, and even then he threw a small fit when he realized she was gone.

"If they have to leave, I want you to go with them, Sis." Kyle repeated, "I know you'd be miserable if you didn't."

"You…" Kat muttered quietly, "You think I wouldn't be upset without you, or Uncle Tobi?"

"No, but you'd be worse off without them." Kyle said as gestured to his brother-in-law and niece who were quietly watching this.

"I…" Kat started to speak before stopping herself, she looked down at her lap for a moment before sighing and looking back up at her brother, "You're right… thank you, Kyle."

"No problem," Kyle grinned, "After all, I did get all the brains in the family."

Kat started to laugh at that as she, jokingly, punched him in the shoulder. "What did I tell you about bragging?"

"…" Kyle hummed in thought, "Only to do it to arrogant asshats."

"Kyle!" Kat reprimanded the boy as she glanced down at her daughter, who was looking at Kyle in confusion.

"What's an asshat?" Grace asked, causing her parents to glare at the boy who originally said it.

"Whoops…" Kyle muttered nervously, knowing how violent his sister could get, and not knowing if Jefferson could be just as bad. "Um, just ignore what I said, Grace."

"Uh, okay." Grace nodded, not really buying it. For now though, she'd not ask. Instead she turned to her mother and asked, "Can we have a tea party?"

"Sure," Kat smiled, "I don't see why not."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

A few hours later, after Grace fell asleep, Jefferson insisted that Kyle and Kat spend the night there and retrieving their stuff from the inn tomorrow. He showed Kyle to one of the many extra rooms in the house before escorting Kat to another room.

"So, how did you apparently acquire this place?" Kat asked as she looked around the hall they were walking in.

"It doesn't matter, Regina gave me this place because she wanted to see me suffer." Jefferson answered, his tone dark as he recalled mental and emotional torture inflicted on him because of the former queen.

"What happened? After I left." Kat asked, stopping short. She was curious as to what exactly happened. She knew that Regina, a previous client of her and her husband, had placed the Curse on all those in the Enchanted Forest and that during the Curse Grace was living with their neighbors, she had met them a few times when she was teaching Grace contact juggling.

"Its not really something I like to remember…" Jefferson responded, he honestly was a bit ashamed of the first year after Jareth had taken her and the final year before the Curse.

"Please, Jefferson," Kat placed a hand on his shoulder, "I would like to know."

"You would be disappointed in me… you might even come to hate me."

"How could I possibly hate you?" Kat shook her head in good humor. Really, she couldn't hate him, as she loved him too much. Sure, she might possibly get angry with him, but never hate him.

"During the first year after losing you, I spent most of my time using that hat to try and find you, and bring you back to me."

"Where was Grace during that time?"

"I left her with the neighbors; I felt that she would be safe there. Even so, most of that year I spent more time looking for you than looking after our daughter."

"What made you stop?"

"I didn't give up on you, if that's what you are thinking!" Jefferson snapped, only to flinch slightly when she removed her hand from his shoulder.

"I didn't say that Jefferson. I only asked what made you stop."

He sighed before turning around and facing his wife, "I was looking in Wonderland… And, while I was there, I remembered the promise I made to you when Grace was born."

"That you wouldn't let Grace be alone if something happened to me."

"I went back home, and quit portal jumping. I locked up my hat and took up collecting mushrooms."

"What happened later on though?" Kat asked him, "Grace told me that you were separated _before_ the Curse."

Jefferson nodded, as he looked down, as ashamed as he was for leaving Grace that first year of Kat's absence, he was even more ashamed of what caused him to be stuck in Wonderland. "About a year before the Curse, Regina came to our house. She wanted me to help her retrieve something that was taken from her. At first I had said no, remembering how Jareth had found you through our travels and my promise to you. I would not leave Grace like that, and I told her as such. After some time, I thought that maybe the money I would receive from the Queen would help me provide for Grace. I couldn't give her anything and everything she wanted with the money received collecting mushrooms. So I took the job. We went to Wonderland, apparently it was the Queen of Hearts who had stolen from her."

"Shit…" Kat muttered, her eyes widening at that fact. She had met the Queen of Hearts once, sometime after her and Jefferson's wedding, and let's just say that it was not a pleasant experience.

"We had to go through the maze to retrieve the item from her vault. Regina was impatient; she burned a path in the maze to get through, which alerted the guards. When we neared the looking glass, she revealed what the stolen item was; her father."

"Oh, no." Kat gasped, realizing what must have happened. She remembered the rules of the hat. The same number of people who go in must come out.

"She froze me so she and her father could escape and the guards grabbed me while I stared at the looking glass in horror and shock. They took me to the Queen of Hearts. I told them of what happened and they chopped off my head." Jefferson explained as he subconsciously rubbed the scar on his neck.

Kat moved her hand towards Jefferson's neck and pulled down his scarf, looking at the scar for herself. Jefferson grabbed her hand but she ignored him as she moved her fingers to trace the scar.

"To my surprise, I lived through that. I saw my body on the ground as my head was held up in the air by a solider who had me by the scalp." He scoffed lightly as he remembered it and gently moved Kat's hand away from his neck, "They asked then how I made it to their world. I told them it was the hat and they told me they would let me go if I could make a new hat." Kat's eyes widened, understanding the problem at hand, Jefferson needed magic to make the hat work, and he had none. He had not made the original hat, someone else had. "They chained me up and gave me all the materials to make a hat. I made hundreds of thousand of hats. None of which worked, as there was no magic in them. I started to go mad while I was there."

"Jefferson." Kat whispered as she placed a hand on his cheek, making him look at her.

"I- I broke my promise to you, Alice, I left Grace. I abandoned her." Jefferson's voice cracked, and he knew that he was near tears, "How could you possibly not hate me for that?"

"Jefferson…" She started, smiling sympathetically, "When you left with Regina to Wonderland, did you have Grace stay at the neighbor's?" When he nodded, her smile widened slightly, "Then how did you break your promise? You left Grace with people who you knew cared about her. And you did make your way back to her, eventually." Jefferson's eyes widened as Kat moved her hand from his cheek and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Before me and Kyle came here, I was scared that Grace would hate me for leaving, for not fighting Jareth more."

"Why would you think that? Didn't you think that I would tell her that it wasn't your fault?"

"Considering how much I hate Jareth, and all… I fear in a way that it would be karma that Grace would hate me as well."

"No, Grace would never hate you. When she was younger I used to tell her all of the adventures we went on." Jefferson explained, "Besides, Grace cared about you before she even _knew_ you are her mother."

"If I have nothing to be worried about, neither should you then." Kat smiled up at her husband, "We both have things we regret, but it's best that we don't dwell on them."

Jefferson smiled back at her before letting go of her. "Here, I'll take you to your room for tonight."

"Don't you mean _our_ room?" Kat asked in confusion as they continued to walk down the hall.

"I didn't know if you still wanted to share a bed with me." Jefferson said, stopping short at a door.

"Jefferson…" Kat shook her head, as she looked up at him in good humor.

"What?"

Kat didn't respond in words. Instead she grabbed him by the back of his neck, bringing his head closer to hers and captured his lips with her own. It took Jefferson a few seconds to realize what was happening before kissing her back just a feverishly as she was kissing him. He barely even noticed that Kat was leading him into the room that they had stopped at.

**SLAM!**

A few moments later, the door opened up again and a hand reached out and placed one of Jefferson's scarves on the doorknob before closing the door again.

Obviously Kat did not mind sharing a bed with him.

* * *

Once again, I apologize if the emotions in this chapter sound a bit off. I'm not that good at dealing with emotions, even in writing.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. There will be a lot of mother/daughter interaction scenes in the up coming chapters. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Thank you, amychristine21, for the review. I'm glad that you are enjoying the story so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

I hope everyone in enjoyed the chapter. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	23. Chapter 23:A Land Serene, A Crystal Moon

Chapter 23: A Land Serene, A Crystal Moon

_Storybrooke, Maine_

_My name is Cait Sith Cheshire. I am the sixteenth child, twelfth daughter of Sterling Cheshire, the second-in-command of the clan. Twenty-eight years ago, I was given a simple job by the Queen of Hearts. Because of that job, I am stuck in my human form and trapped away from my homeland._ _I have been planning my revenge on Regina, the human sorceress who trapped me here. Every night, I have been visiting her home as she slept, whispering in her ear all the ways I could kill her until her sleep become restless. I have been showing up randomly in her life, making her aware that I am still around and ready to deal with her whenever I wish. I_-

Cait sighed as she looked down at her journal. She had been observing Regina for the last couple of days, mainly because her only other income of amusement, Kyle Willis, has not contacted her for a while now. She had noticed that the only thing that Regina truly cared for was her child, Henry. But Cait would never strike a child, that was something that only those worse than _scum_ did.

The brunette watched as Dr. Whale stormed out of the psychologist's office. She had heard the conversation, the man thought that he could convince Regina to bring him back to his world. Cait knew that it was futile, if Regina knew how to go home she would have the moment everyone regained their memories.

The Cheshire stayed by door for a few more moments, listening to Regina speak of someone who she had lost. Someone who had died. Someone who's body she kept persevered in her father's mausoleum.

It was then that a wicked idea formed in her mind. A most beautiful way to ruin Regina. Quickly, the young feline went after the doctor, he would be needed for the plan to work.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

In Rumplestiltskin's home, his pupil was explaining to him why she wanted to learn magic.

"For power… for-" Regina began to explain but was cut off by her mentor.

"Stop wasting my time!" He snapped, "What is it you want? Come on. You've done all your soul-searching. Now tell me."

"Can you teach me, how to use magic to bring back the dead?" Regina asked hopefully. If there was anything she wanted in the world more than anything else, it was to have Daniel back.

"That's what this is about? The stable boy?" He asked incredulously.

"I want true happiness."

"Then find it elsewhere, dearie. Magic can do much, but not that. Dead is dead."

"Th… Then I am lost." The distraught woman responded as she leaned against the table she was by.

"And I've wasted my time. I'm sorry, but, uh, transcending death is beyond even my reach."

"I thought nothing was beyond your reach." That little statement caused the two who were conversing to look at the speaker. Standing at the other side of the table were two people, a man and a woman. It was obvious from the voice that it was the man who had spoken, while the woman looked at him in amusement. "Ah. Busy. Should we…" He motioned towards the door.

"No. No. Nothing important going on here." The goldish-skinned man responded and gestured the couple to follow him to one of the other tables in the room.

"Rumplestiltskin…" Regina tried to grab her mentor's attention.

"Ignore her." He told the two new-comers.

"We got what you wanted." The woman spoke, reaching into the sack she carried to pull out a decent-sized crystal ball.

"What about the slippers?" The sorcerer questioned.

"Oh." The man spoke this time, "Couldn't find 'em. Heard talk they've already been moved to another land."

"That's what I needed to_ get _to that other land." Rumplestiltskin responded firmly. The newcomers noticed that Regina was listening on the conversation, as the woman knocked over a few beakers at her mentor's response. Perhaps she had not known about the other lands yet.

"Well, come with us in my hat. I'm sure we can work something out." The man bargained.

"No, no. Your _hat_ only transports between magical realms. I need to get to a land without magic."

"Why would anyone want _that_?" The man said in confusion, only to be elbowed in the stomach by the brunette who came in with him.

"My business." Rumplestiltskin told him firmly.

"You want the ball or not?" The woman asked, having been holding up for some time now.

"Mmm… yes." Rumplestiltskin said before relieving the ball from the woman, "Help yourself to as much gold as you deem appropriate." The two nodded before walking over to the spindle to collect some gold, both used to the bipolar-like reactions of the man they were working for. The immortal then turned to his _former_ apprentice, "Oh, and, you. You can let yourself out. Our work is done."

"Wait." Regina protested, "So that's it? You're not going to teach me anymore?"

"So long as you harbor foolish notions of bringing back the dead, so long as you live in the past, you'll never find your future." Rumplestiltskin explained, "Teaching you is a waste of time." With that final statement, the man left the room.

As Regina watched her mentor walk away, she didn't notice that the two from before had walked up behind her.

"Pardon us…" The man spoke, causing Regina to jump slightly and turn to look at him, "for eavesdropping, but I think you need to look elsewhere for assistance."

"What do _you_ know about it?" Regina asked suspiciously.

"I hear things. Jefferson's the name," Jefferson introduced.

"And I'm Kat, his wife." Kat introduced politely.

"And we travel and see much, and I know the man who can do what you want… bring back the dead." Jefferson explained.

"He's, um," Kat started to explain, not really sure how to get Regina to understand the man who they are speaking of, "you might say… a wizard."

"We… we can bring him to you." Jefferson finished the offer.

"At what price?" Regina asked skeptically. Everything came with a price, that was a lesson she knew all too well by now.

"Always a price indeed. So here's mine. Like I said, we travel quite a bit, and we've made enemies along the way, and I'd like a royal passport for my wife and I so we can have free reign to traverse your kingdom." Jefferson told her.

"How would I do that?" Regina asked in confusion.

"Well, you're the queen…" Kat raised an eyebrow at the sorceress-in-training, "aren't you?"

"That's right. I am." Regina responded, for once grateful for the forced marriage to the king, "And this wizard… can he really bring someone back from the dead?"

"Well…" Jefferson drawled out, "If he can't, no one can."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Cait smirked as she watched the Dr. Whale begin his experiment. After telling the good old doctor about Regina's true love still being preserved, and giving him the idea that if he successfully brought him back, Regina might send him back home, the 'wizard' was more than happy to assist the teen.

Of course, what the man did not know was that Cait had chosen what she felt to be the most feral heart in Regina's collection to be the one he would use in the experiment. The moment that Daniel's eyes snapped open did Cait make herself invisible, a simple trick that was even easier than moving from place to place. She was going to watch this entire thing in secret.

She watched as the corpse rose and ripped the good doctor's arm off before running away. Almost an hour later, Cait heard the bane of her existence calling out for the doctor.

"Dr. Whale? Where are you?"

And so begins the suffering.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

"Where is he… this wizard?" Regina questioned as she and Jefferson walked down a hallway, "You promised to bring him to _me_."

"Indeed, and off we shall go to see him, but I warn you, be cautious." Jefferson reassured her. He would be happy when this job was _over _he hated jobs like this as it meant someone had to stay in the other world while he brought someone from that world here, and it was usually his wife who stayed behind. He knew she could handle herself, but he didn't like her being in another world without him.

"Why?" Regina stopped short, "Is he dangerous?"

"Not to us." The portal jumper walked over to the queen, "But bare in mind, he's never been to a world like this before. He's unfamiliar with our ways, with our magic." He then began to lead her down the hallway.

"All I care about are _his_ ways, and if they will do what _I_ require."

"Well, there's only one way to find out." Jefferson said to the Queen. Soon enough the two ended up in a small garden where a figure was drawing the flowers. "May I present to you… your salvation." The two walked closer to the man.

"You're the wizard?" Regina asked causing the man turned around, removing his rose-tinted glasses as he did.

"I prefer 'doctor', but you are welcome to call me whatever makes you comfortable." The doctor responded.

"Very well… _doctor_. You understand why you've been brought here?"

"Of course. Now…" The doctor cleared his throat before continuing, "show me the patient."

Regina, Jefferson and the doctor were standing near Daniel's body, with the Doctor examining him.

"It's remarkable." The doctor remarked in amazement as he examined the body, "It's as if his last breath was drawn just moments ago."

"A preservation spell." Regina explained before asking, "Can you bring him back?"

"Perhaps. Let's take a look." The doctor stated before doing a thorough examination, "It's wonderful. His condition is ideal… apart from being dead, that is."

"Just how many times _have_ you done this, doctor?" Regina frowned, coming to realize that the man might not be able to bring her true love back.

The doctor turned to Jefferson at that question, "You didn't tell her?"

"Tell… tell me? Tell me what?" Regina snapped, as the doctor walked around the coffin.

"The procedure is experimental. Success is yet to occur. But if certain conditions are met, I'm optimistic."

"Optimistic?" Regina repeated through gritted teeth.

"Just hear him out." Jefferson tried to calm her down. As far as he knew he couldn't drag a corpse back in through his hat, and then his wife would end up being stuck in the doctor's world.

"What kind of charlatan are you?" Regina questioned the doctor.

"I am no such thing." The doctor protested before explaining, "I was told the last crucial piece of the puzzle exists in this land."

"What else do you need?"

"A heart. It's a fragile organ, and I need a strong one. I've searched the far reaches of my realm for one with the fortitude to stand the shock of my procedure. None have survived. But they say in your land, there are hearts transformed by magic. Heart made so powerful, they glow."

"That's why you've come here?"

"I need this for my work. So tell me… how do you change these hearts? How do you enchant them?"

Jefferson decided to explain to the doctor, "Those who practice the dark arts do it by ripping the organ out of the living while it still beats."

"Mm-hmm." The doctor nodded before turning to Regina, "And you can do this?"

"No." Regina shook her head. Why would she _want_ to learn how to do that, when that was what killed Daniel in the first place?

"Huh." He scoffed before looking back at the portal jumper, "You assured me that this queen was some powerful sorceress."

"I will not use magic for evil." Regina stated firmly.

"Well, if you want your fiancé back, then you're gonna have to find someone who will." Jefferson explained to Regina.

"Have I wasted my time here?" The doctor asked as he closed the bag, prepared to leave.

"No." Regina responded as a thought came to her mind, "I know exactly who can help us. I know where to get a heart."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

"Dr. Whale?" Regina called out as she walked around the room, not at all aware that she was being watched. She walks over to the operating table and takes a step back in shock when she realizes that there was only an _arm_ on the table, underneath the sheet, not connected to anything. "Oh." She gasps, hitting her head on the hanging light that was behind her. She then moves around the table, only to find the doctor on the ground, clutching at his bleeding shoulder where his arms had been, painfully, disconnected. "Whale. Whale." She tried to get him to keep consciousness as she knelt by his side, she needed answers, "I know you took Daniel's body, and you took one of my hearts. Why? Why?!" She shouted before her voice turned soft, hopeful even, "Did you bring him back?"

"I did it." Whale told her, trying to speak through the pain.

"He's alive?"

"Yes. I brought him back, but… he's not Daniel."

"What?"

"He's… he's a monster."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

The triad were in front of a large fire place. Regina and the doctor were standing in front of it while Jefferson plopped down in the sofa.

"This… was my mother's." Regina explained.

"How sweet, but I'm not interested in heirlooms." The doctor responded.

"Oh, I believe you will be." Regina smirked, "Listen."

"To a fire place?" The doctor asked skeptically.

"Just listen." Regina told him.

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump.

"Where is that coming from?" Jefferson asked, as he stood up.

"Her vault." Regina explained before waiving her hand, making a staircase appear where there was once a roaring fire. She led the two men down to chamber. The chamber was filled with drawers, all of which had beating hearts inside. "Take your pick."

"These are all… hearts?" The doctor said as he looked around the room in amazement.

"My mother was a collector." She explained.

"Whose hearts are these?" Jefferson asked, more than a little disturbed by the amount of hearts in the room.

"I have no idea." She responded truthfully, "She took so many, caused so much pain. It was impossible to keep track. She was a monster."

The doctor walked over to one of the drawers and took out a box. Opening the box, he looked at the heart, "Finally. After all this time. It's perfect."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Cait continued to follow Regina as the former queen stood outside the doctor's hospital room, the sheriff by her side interrogating her. She barely paid attention to the conversation until the very end.

"No. Henry. Henry's at the stables." Charming stated, fearful for his grandson.

All of a sudden, Cait amusement disappeared. It is not her intention for children to get hurt. Cait quickly followed the two, hoping to whatever deity that was out there that Henry was alright.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

The three were standing a clearing, the only thing standing out was the white tent in which Daniel's body was currently in. It was a rather stormy night, with thunder and lightening going off almost every other second.

"The heart, your majesty." The doctor asks before Regina hands over the heart to him. "Thank you. Now please, wait here. The procedure is one I must preform alone." He then proceeded to walk off towards the tent to begin the operation.

"What's he doing back there?" Regina asked Jefferson, "Magic?"

"He says he weilds a power greater than magic." Jefferson explained.

"Really? Why won't he let us see?"

"In his land, there's much we don't understand, or can't. If he can't achieve what you seek, Rumplestiltskin was right. It can't be done."

They watched as the doctor began his procedure. Regina gasped in shock when a sudden bolt of lightening came from the sky and struck the tent. The doctor didn't seem to notice as he continued his work. Eventually, the doctor came back, and the queen was eager to find out if she could see her beloved again.

"Well?" She asked expectantly.

"I'm sorry." The doctor said, sadly, "I failed. The heart wasn't strong enough. It couldn't withstand the procedure."

The distraught queen walked into the tent and to her beloved. She laid her head down on his chest, crying silently.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Cait decided to head home after seeing Henry leave the stable. As much as Cait would love to see Regina's heart ripped in two, she knew her fun had been ruined the moment she learned that the child was in danger. It was her maternal instincts acting up, she guessed, because she truly hated the sight of children in danger.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Enchanted Forest_

The next day, the doctor and Jefferson were walking in a forest, waiting for Rumplestiltskin to arrive.

"Enough." The doctor protested, "I need to be taken home. Now I have work to do, and I believe our deal is done."

"The deal isn't done until he says it's done." Jefferson told the doctor, though he too was secretly waiting for the whole thing to be over, as he gestured down to a figure.

"Now, now. Patience, please. Our transaction is, uh, nearly complete." Rumplestiltskin said from where he was walking toward the two.

"And are you satisfied with the results?" The doctor asked as Jefferson sat down.

"She did seem rather… heartbroken."

"She is. She bought my failure."

"You should have seen her tears." Jefferson inputted as he took out a familiar looking box.

"I've seen the aftermath. Impressive."

"Now… my property."

"Yeah, here it is." Jefferson said before handing the doctor the heart, the exact same one that the doctor supposedly used on Daniel.

"You'll excuse me if I check." The doctor said before opening the box to see the beating heart within, "It's been a pleasure doing business with you."

"Oh, the pleasure was mine." The sorcerer stated, "Thanks to your efforts, I've made my monster. Now I do hope you'll be able to make yours."

"I'm not making a monster." The doctor stated after he placed the heart inside his medical bag.

"Sure you're not." The immortal responded knowingly, "Good luck."

"If these hearts are as strong as you say, I won't need luck."

"Oh, just magic."

"No." The doctor disagreed, "What I'm going to accomplish goes far beyond magic."

"And yet you need a magical heart to do it."

"So small-minded." The doctor shook his head, "I need my powers to transcend the limitations of your magic."

"This must be quiet a land you hail from if you think your abilities are more powerful."

"They are."

"Care to wager?" Rumplestiltskin betted, "I suspect someday you'll see it my way."

"I doubt it. Now may we go?" The doctor asked.

Jefferson looked toward Rumplestilskin, as it was his call, and upon the sorcerer's nod, Jefferson stood up and threw his hat on the ground, opening the portal.

"Careful, dearie." The strange man warned, "Just remember, whatever it is you traffic in, it comes with a price."

"We'll see." The doctor said before jumping into the hat with Jefferson.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat was reading a book, trying to fend off boredom when she heard a familiar voice call out her name. Smiling, the brunette stood up and returned the book into her satchel. Running over to where she heard the voice, she was happy to see her husband standing there with the doctor.

"Jefferson!" Kat smiled as she found herself wrapped up in the Hatter's arms.

"I missed you," Jefferson muttered as he buried his face in the woman's hair. The two had missed each other greatly as Kat had to stay behind while Jefferson took the doctor to their world due to the rules of the hat. It was something that both hated greatly but dealt with it anyways as it was never for too long.

"It was nice meeting you, doctor." Kat called out to the man who was walking back towards his residence.

Chuckling, Jefferson moved his head so he could place a kiss on the side of her head, "Sometimes you are too nice for this job."

"Well, I'm not gonna be impolite to him, he nor his companion did anything wrong." Kat shrugged.

"Come one, Alice, let's go home." Jefferson said with a smile. He removed his arms from her only to grab her hand.

"Alright," Kat agreed and the two walked towards the portal, "So now we have a royal passport?"

"Yes. We're now safe at home due to the Queen's promise."

"Well that's good, especially since…" Kat trailed off, not knowing how to explain.

"Since what?" Kat looked away, causing her love to stop and look at her with worry, "Kat, is something wrong?"

"No!" Kat exclaimed as she shook her head furiously, "It's not something that is iwrong/i… rather… something rather good I found out while I was here."

"What is it?"

She smiled at him gently before taking his hand and moving it so it laid against her stomach. "What do you think about becoming a father?"

Stunned, the green-eyed man just looked down at his hand, and then back up to Kat's face. "Are- Are you certain?" At her nod, Jefferson felt tears well up in his eyes before he engulfed Kat in an embrace, kissing her passionately.

* * *

So yeah, the scene where Kat reveals to Jefferson that she is pregnant is something that I had written back when I was still writing the first five chapters.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. I'm glad that you loved the last chapter, I was very nervous about it. It will be a long, long while before we see Jareth outside of flashbacks, I'm not even sure when Kat will finally try to see him after what happened. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and, as always, reviews are highly appreciated.


	24. Chapter 24: It's Only Forever

Chapter 24: It's Only Forever

_Storybrooke, Maine_

"So, you're actually from the Enchanted Forest?" Red asked from where she was leaning against the doorframe. After Kat had told her that she was no longer going to be staying at the inn, Red got curious and followed the girl to the room that she was going to be leaving.

"Sorta," Kat shrugged, "I kinda fell into the Enchanted Forest a while back. And someone who I knew basically forced me back here, taking my memories away as extra insurance."

"And now you're going to move in with your husband and child." Red finished as she watched the brunette continue to pack her stuff.

"Yeah." Kat nodded.

"But, wait." Red paused, realizing something, "I thought you said you were twenty-seven."

"I am."

"But the Curse has been going for _twenty-eight years_. How are you only twenty-seven if you evaded the Curse?"

"Time moves differently between worlds." Kat explained, "It was only seven years ago for me that I went to the Enchanted Forest."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Kat nodded as she zipped up her bag, "Plus the person who took me could also bend time, but I don't know if he actually did so when he was bringing me back."

"So is Kat your real name?"

"It is."

"Would I know who your husband is?"

"I don't know." Kat told the werewolf, "He retired from his old job and took up collecting mushrooms after I was taken away."

"Ok, then, can I meet him?" Red inquired.

"Why?" Kat asked, curious.

"Because I wanna know if this guy is alright." Red said, "You're my friend and I don't want you to get into trouble."

"Don't worry, Ruby." Kat reassured the girl, "I know him well enough to know he isn't going to hurt me."

"Are you sure?" Red asked, worried, "The Curse might have changed him."

"If anything, I think the Curse made him cherish me and Grace more." Kat told her before looking towards the bathroom, "You almost done in there, Kyle? I'm done packing."

"Yeah…" The women heard Kyle groan out from inside the closed bathroom, "Just give me a few more minutes."

His sister began to laugh, while Red raised an eyebrow at the girl, wanting answers. "Grace made a batch of cookies for a tea party and Kyle ate most of them. Turns out she made them wrong."

"Oh." Red said before she too started laughing, "Here, I'll help you with the bags as your brother is currently… _busy_ at the moment."

"Thanks." Kat smiled at the woman before grabbing one of the bags and heading out the door, Red soon following after her with the other bag.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Mother and daughter stood in a large kitchen, a large pile of ingredients scattered around the island counter. In the brunette's hands was a cookbook, opened to a recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

"Ok, let's see if we can try and make some that _won't _give anyone stomach problems." Kat joked, causing her child to laugh bashfully.

"Do you know how to bake, mama?" Grace asked as the two began to prepare everything.

"Not really. Only time I ever baked was with my mom at Christmas…" Kat trailed off, thinking of her mother.

"Will I get to meet her?" Grace asked, curious about her maternal grandmother. She didn't know of any of her relatives outside of her parents, and now her maternal uncle.

"Uh…" Kat paused in cracking the eggs upon her daughter's question. With a sigh, she knelt down and looked Grace straight in the eyes, "I'm sorry, Grace, my parents died when I was twelve. You won't be able to meet them." Feeling her heart pull at the dejected look on her child's face, Kat decided to add, "_Buuut_, you have a great uncle and two cousins who you might be able to meet."

At that, Grace perked up, "Really?!"

"Yeah," Kat nodded, "They live in New York. So if we ever have the chance or if he can come here, you'll be able to meet them."

"But…" Grace started to say, realizing what her mother was saying, "We can't leave town. If we do we'll forget each other all over again. I'll lose you and papa."

"When I said 'if we ever have the chance', Grace, I meant if we ever found a way to cross the town line. I wouldn't want either of you to forget us." Kat said, but the little blonde girl still seemed disappointed, "Is there something else wrong?"

"No one's come to the town for _years_. How is my great uncle supposed to find Storybrooke?" Grace asked.

"Well…" Kat trailed off, feeling a bit like one of the characters from her favorite shows with the way she drew out that word, "Your uncle Kyle and I managed to find Storybrooke fine, and it was your uncle who decided to drive through this town in the first place."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he had a month off from-" Kat paused, as if just realizing something for the first time, "SCHOOL! Crud." The Halfling jumped up, startling her daughter slightly, before digging through her pocket. "I so hope they don't expel him cause of this…" She muttered to herself before dialing rapidly on her phone.

"Who are you calling, mama?" Grace asked but she was ignored as Kat placed the phone to her ear.

"Hi, is this Principal Burke? … Could you get me him please, this is Kat Willis, Kyle Willis' older sister. … … Hello, Principal Burke. Yes, I was wondering if my uncle had informed you that my brother and I are currently stuck in another town as my bike is in major need of repair. … I just want to know if this will effect Kyle's enrollment at your school, as he had been absent for such a long time. …. Sure I can get proof of why he was not attending class. … By when?! … Alright, I understand. It was nice speaking with you." Kat hung up and sighed, leaning against the island as she did.

"What was that about, mama?" Grace asked, very confused by the one-sided conversation.

"You're uncle had a month off from school when we first came to Storybrooke."

"But it's been over a month since you arrived."

"Exactly." Kat sighed, "I needed to call to see if he was still enrolled in his high school or if they expelled him for lack of attendance."

"They can do that?" Grace asked in confusion.

"I don't know if they can at public schools, but at private schools they can." Kat sighed, "I remember I almost got expelled during my senior year. Skipped my exams because I was practicing for a tournament."

"You play sports, mama?" Grace asked, curious.

"Well, I played all different sports with people from my old high school," Kat told Grace, mentally recalling the many games of football that ended up as mud brawls, "But I fence."

"Fence?" Grace made a face as she tried to figure out what that word was, having not heard of it before.

"It's a sword duel." Kat explained, "It's been my favorite sport since I was a little girl. And I have to say that I'm very good at it."

"Cool!" Grace said, "Could you show me?"

"Hmm…" Kat thought for a moment before shrugging, nothing bad could come out of showing her the sport, "Sure, but first, we have some cookies to make."

"Ok." Grace said before the two continued with their baking, the two laughing and chatting nonsense as they did, smiles on their faces.

Not once did the two notice that Jefferson was by the doorway, just watching his two girls spending much needed quality time together.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"So, did the cookies you and Grace make come out edible?" Jefferson asked Kat when she entered his 'hat room'.

"Oh, shut it." Kat rolled her eyes, "I know you heard the fire alarm go off."

Jefferson chuckled before looking up from the book he had been reading. He placed it down before getting up and walking over to his wife. "Well, I guess ash is better than spending most of the day in the bathroom." He teased before giving her a kiss on the lips.

"True, I'm sure my brother could agree to that." Kat responded as she looked up into Jefferson's eyes, noticing a mischievous look in them, "What are you thinking about?"

"You mean besides last night's events?" He teased, only to get a not-so-gentle shove in the shoulder, "I was thinking about how we never went on a date before."

"Sure we did, Jefferson." Kat told him, somewhat confused.

"Our job doesn't count, Alice." Jefferson responded, "I don't believe dodging all different types of people trying to maim us is romantic."

"Who said I cared about a date being romantic." Kat shrugged.

"Well, I still want to give you a romantic date."

"Oh?"

"Yes, would tomorrow night be good for you?" Jefferson asked.

"Hmm." Kat muttered as she playfully tapped her chin, "I don't know, my husband might not like the idea of me going on a date."

"I'm sure he'd make an exception," Jefferson chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Then it's a date." Kat said before wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a kiss.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kyle, after exiting the bathroom for what felt like the hundredth time that day, sighed as he flopped onto the bed, swearing to never again eat cookies. As he stared up into the ceiling, a thought entered his mind.

"I wonder how Cait is doing." He muttered, having not really seen her since the Curse was first broken. He liked hanging out with her, as she was one of the few friends he had that was his age. Sure, there were the guys on his soccer team, and a few kids he still spoke to from grammar school, but that was it. It was one of the few things that sucked about being a senior in high school when you're the same age as the freshmen, hard to connect with people.

With a sigh, the blonde teen decided to go see his friend.

**GRUMBLE GRUMBLE**

Running to the bathroom he changed his mind. He will go see his friend _**tomorrow**_.

* * *

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. I'm glad you liked that scene and Cait's character.

Just so everyone is aware, I may not be able to update next week. the charger for my laptop died last night, if it wasn't for the fact that i had already uploaded this into thw doc manager this chapter wouldn't be up either. I ordered a new charger online, it should arrive between Thursday and next Wednesday. I hope everyone liked the chapter! Reviews, as always, are appreciated.


	25. Chapter 25: Not Long At All

Chapter 25: Not Long At All

Cait woke up rather late in the afternoon. She sat up in her cot, as she was still occupying one from the storm, refusing to go back to the woman who had been taking care of her during the Curse. She knew that the teachers at the school have probably realized that she was no longer planning on attending, having not really been a student during the Curse and not shown up since it broke.

"Having a cat nap?" A male voice called out, causing the Cheshire to let instinct take over. All of a sudden, Rumplestiltskin found himself with a knife against his throat. "Careful now, you don't want anyone to get _hurt_." To add emphasis, he let magic flow around his hand, showing that he would retaliate if she struck him.

"What do you want?" Cait snapped coldly as she removed her dagger.

"Nothing really." The pawn shop owner replied, "Just wanted you to be aware that I know what you're doing."

"Oh." The Cheshire said icily, twirling her dagger between her fingers.

"I know you were the one who told Dr. Whale of Regina's vault, and the one who provided him with the heart."

"What exactly is your point of this conversation?" Cait snapped, annoyed.

"I just hope you know what you're doing." Rumplestilskin stated knowingly, "Revenge is a tricky business after all."

"Something that you know oh so well." Cait sneered, "I've heard the tales of you, wizard, they reached even my land."

"Even so," Rumplestiltskin continued, not at all fazed, "Are you sure that this is the path you wish to go down? You cannot return once you go down that path."

"Why are you even so concerned? Last I checked you sent a wraith after the tart."

"I am not, but I doubt your child would be happy to find out that you walked down such a path."

**CLANG**

Cait didn't even realize she dropped her dagger as she glared at the man before her, mind frozen in shock. "How?"

"It is not too hard for me to find out." Rumplestiltskin responded coolly, "Perhaps you should think about your child before you think about revenge."

"So you're trying to wrong your mistakes through me, is that it?" Cait questioned, "Well, back off, my kid's a Cheshire, we're taught at a young age to kill."

"True, but we both know he isn't a _full_ Cheshire." With those parting words, Rumplestiltskin left, leaving a glaring teenager in his wake.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Kyle barely paid attention as he walked towards the soccer field, headphones blasting music into his ears. He had called Cait an hour or so ago and asked if they could hang out. Eventually, the two decided to meet at the soccer field, their typical hang out. If he was paying attention, he might have noticed the bottle that was in his friend's hand before he was two feet away from her.

"'Ello, mate." Cait's drunk greeting reached his ears as he removed his headphones.

"Are-Are you _drunk_?" Kyle stammered in shock, having not expected to find his friend intoxicated, bottle of whiskey in her hands.

"And?" The slurred reply only made Kyle question how much she had drank. Judging by the amount of alcohol left in the bottle, **a lot**.

"Where did you even get that?"

"Why want some?" The brunette offering him the bottle.

"No." Kyle snapped as he slapped the whiskey right out of her hands and onto the grass.

"Hey, that was mine!"

"Why're you drinking?" Kyle snapped. He was angry, though not really at the Cheshire, he just hated alcohol. One of the few classmates he became friends with back in New York died after getting drunk, having passed out and ended up choking on his own vomit.

"Why not?" She shrugged. She needed a drink after the last few days. Finding out she was stuck in her human form and away from her home, almost getting a child killed during her revenge scheme against Regina, being reminded of her own child and the child's father. Too much for her to handle right now without some help from Mr. Jack Daniels.

"Cait…" Kyle sighed, "I might not be good at analyzing people like my sister, but I do know that if you get drunk by yourself there's a good reason for it."

"Piss off, no one asked you!" Cait snapped as she attempted to stand up, only to fall right back onto the ground.

"I'm your friend, Cait."

"I don't have friends!" Cait responded drunkenly, "People outside my clan are only trouble if we consider them as more than targets and clients."

"That's not true, Cait," Kyle shook his head, "I'm your friend and I won't be trouble."

"That's what I thought the last time…" Cait muttered softly to herself, but Kyle had heard her.

"What do you mean?" Kyle asked, startling the feline, a conversation they had earlier left him to believe that he was her first friend outside of her clan, if she was lying at the time, then who was she speaking of that seemingly betrayed her trust.

"Sod off!" Cait cursed him before she started to disappear before Kyle's eyes, "Should have never bothered with this bloody meeting."

Soon enough, she was gone, leaving a confused teenager standing in the field.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Back at Jefferson's home, mother and daughter were in a room, with several outfits laid out on the bed.

"Do you know where papa is taking you?" Grace asked as Kat fidgeted around the room.

"No… granted there aren't _that_ many places in town to go to." Kat told her daughter as she continued to pace.

"Why are you so nervous, mama?" Grace asked, confused by her mother's actions. She knew that both her mama and papa loved each other, so why was her mother so worried-looking.

"…" Kat blushed, not really expecting having to tell this to her child, granted a month ago she would not have expected even _having_ a child, "I've never actually gone on a 'romantic date' before. Most of the dates I had before I met your father were to bars and watching sports." And those were quiet few to begin with, as most of the guys she hung out with were old high school buddies who she couldn't ever see dating.

"Isn't that why I'm here to help you pick out an outfit for tonight?" Grace questioned, causing her mother's blush to increase. Yes, the twenty-seven year old was so inexperienced with dating that she was asking her _ten-year-old daughter_ for help. It was mostly because she had seen that Grace had grown up rather girly, while Kat was never truly girly in her life. She had one stint at age five where she wanted to be a princess, and a week later she wanted to be a pirate or a Viking, that was basically the extent of girly-ness Kat had. So she figured a girly-girl like her daughter would be able to help her with making herself look presentable.

"Yeah." Kat coughed, trying to hide her blush, "Don't tell anyone that I asked you for help, ok?"

"Ok, mama." Grace shrugged, not seeing why her mom was getting flustered over the current situation. Speaking of, Grace turned to look at the outfits that Kat had taken out of her bag, examining them. "So these are your clothes?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know anything about where papa might take you?"

"No, I only know that he wants to take me out on a romantic date." Kat shrugged, not at all sure what her husband was planning.

"Hmm," Grace hummed as she looked at the clothes. Kat had grabbed a couple of nice shirts, two pair of jeans, three different pairs of tights, and three different dresses. She also had three pairs of shoes: her biker boots, a pair of navy knee-high converse and a pair of white flats. Contrary to what most would think of her, Kat did wear dresses and skirts from time to time, just not that often. "Not the jeans then, you should definitely wear a dress." Grace said, causing her mother to nod.

"Okay then." Kat said as she went and piled up the shirts and jeans together, going to put them away once she chooses which dress to wear. "Now the question is which dress."

"How about this one?" Grace suggested, pointing to the blue and black plaid dress.

"I guess." Kat shrugged before looking at her clothes, "I guess I could wear the black tights and flats with them."

"Try it on!" Grace cheered, handing the clothes to her mother before ushering her to the bathroom.

"Alright, alright." Kat laughed, "Why do I suddenly feel like a giant Barbie doll?"

"I wanna see what it looks like on you." Grace said as she stood on the other side of the closed bathroom door.

A moment or two later, Kat walked out in the dress, which fell halfway to her knees. The dress was sleeveless, with three over lapping teardrop-shaped pieces of fabric going off the shoulders. At the collar and hem were thin strips of black lace. It was not very revealing, the neckline barely showing off her collarbone, but it also was not too unappealing.

"You look very pretty, mama." Grace complimented, causing her mother to blush.

"Thank you, Grace." Kat responded, "Hopefully your father will think so too."

"Oh, I know he will!" Grace grinned happily.

"Well, I have a few hours until I find out." Kat sighed, "What do you want to do until then?"

"Can you tell me about how you and papa met?" Grace asked, "I know papa's told me before but I wanna hear the story from you."

"Sure." Kat smiled before plopping onto the bed with Grace, the two getting comfy as Kat began to tell her daughter about the day she met her future husband.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Soon enough, it was time for Jefferson and Kat to begin their date. Kat was waiting patiently in Grace's bedroom for Jefferson to come get her as he said he would.

"Will ya stop fidgeting, Sis, you're gonna burn a hole into the rug." Kyle told his sister as he sat on stool by the vanity. He had been drafted as the babysitter for tonight.

Yeah, she wasn't actually being patient in the slightest.

"I'm just nervous, is all." Kat responded, slowing down in her pacing.

"You two are_ married_." Kyle reminded her, "There's nothing to be nervous about. You're already in love with each other."

"Doesn't mean I can't be nervous." Kat snapped, "Last time Jefferson took me out for something besides work was when he proposed to me."

"Seriously?" Kyle asked in disbelief.

"Well, work was pretty time consuming. After he proposed the only time we had off from work was our wedding and honeymoon." Kat explained, "And when I found out I was pregnant with Grace, though that was when I basically stopped working with him."

"Dang." Kyle drawled out, having not expected that, "I'm still sure you have nothing to worry about."  
**  
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK**

"Here's your prince charming." Kyle teased, knowing that the person knocking was Jefferson.

"More like my mad hatter." Kat responded, trying to stay calm as she walked over to the door. Soon enough, she opened the door to see, to no surprise, Jefferson standing on the other side.

"Wow." Jefferson breathed as he took in Kat's appearance. She looked more lovely than usual tonight in his eyes. His eyes trailed up and down her body as he took in the sight before him. "You- you look amazing."

"Thanks." Kat said as she glanced at her husband. He was wearing his typical attire, something that Kat did not mind as he looked handsome in it anyways. "You look good yourself."

"Alright, you two, go have fun." Kyle said, standing up, doing his best impression of an overprotective father as he faced the portal jumper, "I want her back by eight and no funny business, alright?"

Kat just turned and stared at her brother blankly while Jefferson looked at him in confusion. "Never do that again, Kyle." Was the only thing Kat could say in response.

"That bad acting huh?" Kyle said, ignoring Grace's giggles from where she was sitting.

"What was _that_ about?" Jefferson asked, baffled.

"Just ignore him." Kat rolled her eyes before turning to look at Grace, "Bye, Grace."

"Bye, Mama. Bye, Papa." Grace said, waving her hand from where she sat at her small table, having already started another tea party.

"Bye, Grace." Jefferson smiled at his daughter before he led Kat out to where he had his car parked. The moment they got to the car, however, Kat froze. That immediately caught her husband's attention. "What's wrong, Alice?"

"Let's take my bike instead." Kat suggested, purposely ignoring his question.

"But I don't know how to drive a motorcycle and I'm the only one who knows where we are going." Jefferson stated, not understanding why Kat had frozen like that.

"You can give me directions as we drive along." Kat told him, already walking towards her bike.

"Kat." Jefferson called out, grabbing his wife by the wrist to stop her, "What's going on? Why are you so afraid-" He stopped what he was saying as if he realized something, "You _are_ afraid of the car, aren't you?"

"…" She refused to make contact, "Yeah, I hate the thought of being in a car."

"Why?"

"My parents died in a car crash around the time I was that age where you could get your license to drive." Kat told him, "Kinda leaves you not liking cars."

Jefferson stared at her for a few more moments before sighing and letting her wrist go, "Alright, we'll take your motorcycle."

"Thank you, Jefferson." Kat smiled softly at him, glad that he did not make fun of her paranoia of cars. The two then walked over to Kat's bike, she handed him Kyle's helmet before placing her own on. Once they were ready, she took off.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Eventually, the two ended up in the forest, where Jefferson made her stop the motorcycle.

"Oh, come _on_, Jefferson!" Kat whined as her husband tied his scarf around her eyes, blinding her.

"No, I want it to be a surprise." He whispered into her ear. Shivers involuntarily went down the woman's spine as she felt Jefferson's breath against her ear.

"Fine." She huffed, letting her husband drag her to who knows where. Soon enough, Jefferson had stopped her, though he had yet to remove the blindfold. "Are we there yet?" Kat asked, "Can I take this off already?"

"You're being awfully impatient, my Alice." Jefferson said from behind her.

"You weren't complaining about my impatience last night." She smirked.

"Just give me a moment, love." Jefferson told her before moving away from his wife. Kat heard a faint click before she felt Jefferson had moved back to her side. "Okay, now." He then removed the scarf from her, allowing her to see what he had planned.

"Jefferson…" Kat breathed out in shock. They were in a clearing. On the ground was a blanket with a simple dinner laid out on it. Hanging from the trees were small lanterns that, if you did not really notice looked similar to fireflies. Minus the picnic, this reminded her of something else. "This… This almost looks like-"

"The spot in Wonderland where I proposed." Jefferson finished for her. "I figured that this would be the most appropriate spot to give you _this_." Kat turned to face her husband to see him taking off a necklace, one she had not really noticed before. He held it out before her, letting the object that was hanging off of it dangle in her view.

"My ring." Kat muttered in surprise. She remembered that she had taken it off the night she left when she gave Grace her bath and had not gotten the chance to put it back on when Jareth had taken her away. "I would have thought that it would still be in the Enchanted Forest."

"No," Jefferson shook his head, "I kept it with me since that night. It was the only reminder I had left of you besides our Grace."

"Then how didn't I notice the last few nights?" Kat questioned, curious, "I know for a fact that I would have noticed it if you had been wearing it like you were just a moment ago."

"While I was waiting for you to wake up," Jefferson began to explain as he placed the ring in her hands, "I went to the jewelers to get it engraved."

Curious, Kat looked down at the band, twisting it around so she could get a good look. On the inside of the band, elegantly carved out were two words: _eternally yours_.

"Jefferson." She whispered, not sure what to say, not even sure if she could say anything as it felt like the breath had been taken out of her.

"I would love it if you would once again wear this ring. If you'll still have me." Jefferson told her before patiently waiting for her response.

**SMACK!**

Okay… that was _not_ the response he expected. Jefferson winced as he held his now burning cheek.

"Idiot!" She cried out, "Dumbass!"

"What?" He blinked confused as to why she had slapped him and started to insult him. He watched as she then slipped the ring off the chain and placed it back where it belonged, on her finger. Now he was really confused.

"Did you really think that after the last few nights that I wouldn't accept?" Kat raised an eyebrow at him. It was obvious to Kat now that he still felt guilty over what happened before the Curse hit. Well, she'd just have to hammer it into his head that it's nothing to be guilty over. Later, not now though. For now, she had other plans in her mind for her husband.

"I-" What ever it was that Jefferson was going to say was cut off by Kat grabbing him by the jacket and pulling him into a fierce kiss.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

The next day, Kat had decided to go visit Red, and possibly help out at the diner. She figured she might do something productive in the town, even if Jefferson whined about her going. Not that she could blame him, it might have been only two years since she had seen him, not that she even remembered, but it had been over _thirty years_ since Jefferson saw her.

Soon enough, she was parked outside the diner. As she was taking off her helmet, she saw Charming hurriedly walking to the diner's door.

"What's going on?" Kat asked, worried by the way his body language told her whatever it was that happened was not good.

"Granny said Ruby escaped from the freezer last night." Charming explained as the two walked into the diner.

"Wait. What?" Kat asked, confused.

"David, thank heavens you're here. We need to find Ruby." Granny said, coming out from the back room. It was then that the old woman noticed Kat, "Oh, Kat, this is a really bad time."

"What's going on, Granny?" Kat asked the older woman, "What happened to Ruby? David said you locked her in a _freezer_ and she _escaped_."

"She's a werewolf, Kat." Charming told her. To both his and Granny's surprise, Kat just shrugged it off. Red had mentioned it once before, though it seems that she didn't tell her grandmother or Charming that she had let Kat know. Then again, Kat had only really told Red about her past, so how would they know that she didn't find Red being a werewolf strange? There were only a handful of people in town who knew she used to live in the Enchanted Forest.

"And last night was a full moon." Kat muttered, remembering that she saw the full moon last night during her picnic with Jefferson. That would explain why they locked Red in the freezer, to stop the wolf from going wild on the townsfolk.

"We need to find her and make sure she didn't hurt anyone." Granny said, though she looked at the young woman in confusion. As far as she knew, the woman was technically an outsider who was pulled into this by misfortune, so it was rather odd for her to take this all in so easily.

"Okay." Kat nodded, "Let me help, Ruby is my friend."

"Alright." Charming nodded before the three left the dinner, in search of the missing werewolf.

Eventually, the three ended up in the forest, with Granny leading them.

"This way. Over here" Granny called out as she led them deeper into the forest. Soon enough, they found Ruby sleeping on the ground. "Ruby. Ruby, wake up." Granny ordered the girl as she, Charming and Kat knelt down by her.

"Hey." Charming called out to her when the woman started to wake up.

"You okay?" Kat asked, concerned about the poor girl.

"Where am I? What happened?" Red asked, not fully aware as to what happened.

"You're in the forest. You must have fallen asleep here last night." Charming explained as he and Kat helped Red up.

"I-I don't understand. You put me in that cage. You locked me up."

"The freezer was torn to shreds when I came to check in on you this morning." Granny explained to her only relative. Needless to say, that wasn't something Red wanted to hear. The poor girl started to freak out, scared she hurt someone while she was the wolf.

"Ruby." Charming tried to calm her down, "Ruby, it's alright."

"No. It's not." Red shook her head in disagreement, "I don't remember anything from last night. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Oh my God. Did I do something last night?"

"Ruby, all we know for sure is that you broke out and ran through the woods. There's no reason to assume the worst." Charming reassured her before feeling his phone vibrating in his pocket. Quickly, he answered it, "Sheriff. … Yeah. Okay. I'll be right there."

"What is it?" Red asked, fearing the worst.

"Somebody left their car double-parked in front of the cannery. I got to go check it out on our way back into town." Charming explained before noticing that Red was still upset, "Hey. Relax. Everything's going to be okay."

Soon enough, the four made it to the cannery. The car that was double-parked was a tow truck. A tow truck that Red quickly recognized.

"That's Billy's truck." She identified.

"Great." Charming sighed, "Who do I call to tow a tow truck?"

"Ruby, what's wrong?" Kat asked, noticing the disturbed expression on the girl's face.

"I smell blood." She responded, looking around.

"Where's Billy?" Charming wondered out loud, not noticing Granny moving towards the front of the truck.

"Here." Granny called out. Charming and Kat walked over to see Billy half under the truck... as in only the top half of his body was there.

"Holy-" Kat started to say but was interrupted by a huge scream. The three at the front of the truck quickly turned to see Red standing by a dumpster at the other end of the truck, where Billy's legs were sticking out of it.

"It was the wolf!" Red shouted before starting to cry, "It was me!"

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Cait sighed as she sat in one of the many trees in the forest. Honestly, this was the closet place that felt like home in Storybrooke. As she sat in the tree, she mulled over the conversation she had with Kyle the other day while she was drunk.

Unlike many humans who forgot what they did while drunk, she recalled everything in perfect detail, which led her to regret. She hated the fact that she brought up the fact that she once trusted someone before Kyle, she had wanted that to be a secret that she would bring to the grave with her, granted the Dark One knew but he knew many secrets that were not supposed to be known.

She recalled meeting _him_ when she was still rather young and naïve. _He_ was the one who destroyed that innocence. _He_ had used her when she trusted _him_, leaving her once he had what _he _wanted. She hated remembering that man; she hated _him_ for what _he_ did to her.

Thankfully, she no longer had to deal with him. She never had to deal with him again.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

"It had to be something else, Ruby." Charming tried to reassure the poor girl.

"There doesn't seem to be enough blood for it to have been you, Ruby." Kat tried to tell her, though the panicked girl did not seem to hear. Honestly, there didn't seem to be enough blood for him to have been killed there… okay, Kat had watched one to many crime dramas.

"No, I did this!" Red cried out as she looked at Charming, "We both know it."

"No." Charming stated, "A few months ago, everyone thought Mary Margaret was guilty of murder. She needed someone to believe in her. I didn't do that. I am not going to make that mistake with you!"

"Mary Margaret never killed anyone. I have." Red reminded the prince.

"I know who you really are, Ruby, even if you've lost sight of it."

"It doesn't change the fact that I am going to turn again tonight, and somebody else could get hurt."

"Maybe this isn't the best place to have this discussion." Granny told the two. The small group of four looked around, noticing that people had started to gather around them, curious as to what happened.

"It's okay. I'll protect her." Charming reassured the grandmother, not wanting anything to happen to his wife's best friend.

"No! Lock me up." Red told him, "If the freezer couldn't hold me, maybe a jail cell will. I don't need to be protected from people, David. Other people need to be protected from me."

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Kat sighed as she walked in the town. She had wanted to stay to help keep the poor girl calm, but Red insisted that she would fine and told her to head back home. But right now she was so worried about her friend that she knew she wouldn't be anything but a worried wreck. Right now, she needed a distraction.

There were several ways that Kat tended to distract herself in the past. The normal thing she would do would be to practice magic, but after finding out what happened with Jareth; practicing would only anger her than distract her, as she needed. Another would be fencing, but there did not seem to be any fencing schools in town for her to practice in, and she didn't know anyone in town who was into sword play, besides Charming, who was guarding Red, and Henry, who was still a novice.

Perhaps she should go find her brother. Chatting with him tended to distract her.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Kyle was still sitting in the soccer field. He had decided to watch the clouds, looking at the different shapes they made. For example, the ones he was looking at right now looked like a fish, a bunny and a very well detailed Optimus Prime. Yeah… he was that bored.

_This kingdom, /Good riddance, /Good freedom and innocence/ Has brought this whole thing down_

Kyle snapped out of his trance and dug through his pocket, eventually digging out his cell phone. He answered it without even looking to see who it was, after all he had customized his ringtones so he knew who was calling.

"Hey, sis, what's up?" Kyle greeted his sister over the phone, "… I'm at the soccer field. … Sure. I don't mind chatting with you. … See you in a bit." After finishing the conversation, he pocketed the mobile and sat up.

Soon enough, Kat ended up at the soccer field, where she saw Kyle sitting in the middle of it. As she walked to the soccer field, she had remembered something, something that she needed to talk to her brother about any ways. She figured she might as well have that conversation now.

"Hey." She greeted once she was close enough, plopping down onto the grass near him.

"Hey, so what's up?" Kyle greeted in response.

"Besides finding out Ruby is a werewolf and might possibly murdered one of the townsfolk last night."

"Damn." Kyle responded, "This town loves possible murders." He wasn't really affected by the fact that Red was a werewolf, but then again he had been in contact with things worse than a werewolf since he was five. "Did they find the body this time?"

"Yeah." Kat nodded, "Half of him was under the front of his truck, the other half was in the dumpster behind the trunk."

"Only split in half. Wouldn't a wolf make more of a mess?" Kyle questioned.

"I thought the same, especially since there was little to no blood."

"…" Kyle raised an eyebrow at that, "How the fu-"

"Language." The brunette half-heartedly reprimanded.

"How on Earth did they come to the conclusion that a werewolf did it if the guy was ripped in half and little to no blood?"

"Ruby was scared as the wolf had apparently killed someone before." Kat said, recalling how Ruby had told her about how she found out about the wolf before Charming locked her up in the cell. "And since she doesn't recall what happened last night, she immediately jumped to that conclusion."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, it does." Kat nodded, "Though I'm still confused about how _cleanly_ the guy was cut in half. I mean, even if he was unconscious for it, it shouldn't have been such a clean cut."

"Maybe it was a Jedi knight." Kyle joked, causing his sister to chuckle.

"Nah, the wound was not cauterized." Kat responded jokingly, causing another round of laughter between the siblings.

"Think we watch too much crime dramas?" Kyle asked once they stopped laughing.

"Probably." Kat responded before sighing and moving so she was lying on her back.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, just relaxing. Eventually, Kat decided she might as well talk to him about what she was thinking about.

"Hey, Kyle?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to talk to you about school."

"Sis." Kyle groaned out as Kat sat up.

"Kyle, it's been 2 months since we came here. You need to get your ass back in class."

"But I don't want to leave town." Kyle responded. He truly didn't, he liked this place much better than New York, plus he would be able to see his sister, who he knew would stay here with her family.

"Then what do you propose?"

"I transfer here." Kyle suggested.

"You want to transfer during your senior year?"

"Not like I'm really friends with anyone I have class with currently." Kyle responded dryly.

"Are you sure?" Kat sighed, recalling when she had transferred from her old high school to the one she graduated from, "You realize your class schedule will be completely different as this is a public school."

"Yes, I'm sure." Kyle snapped. He didn't mind working with a different schedule, or even being the new kid in class. He just wanted to stay in town.

"Fine. I'll call up Uncle Tobi about that." Kat sighed, "It will probably take at least a week for the paper work to go through."

"I don't mind." Kyle shrugged, he didn't mind waiting that long to go back to school.

"And I don't think I need to tell you that you probably have a _lot _of work to make up." Kat told him.

"Yeah, but it probably won't be too hard."

"Plus the fact that whoever your classmates are have twenty-eight years more experience in the class over you." Kat said, half serious.

"Meh." Kyle smirked, finding some humor in his sister's comment, "So can I transfer?"

"Let me call Uncle Tobi." Kat told him as she dug out her cell phone. It was switched to the contact list the moment she moved it in front of her. Looks like both of the Willis siblings were staying in Storybrooke.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

After an hour or so long phone call, the siblings headed back to their new home. Their uncle had approved of the idea that Kyle came up with and was going to contact the high school back in New York for them, so all they needed to do was get the paperwork for the high school in town and fill it out.

When they got back home, Kat immediately dug out her laptop and a potable printer that she had tucked in her bag. She went and opened an email her uncle had sent her, with the papers they needed to fill out and printed them. Once she filled them out, forging her uncle's signature where necessary, the two separated, Kyle going to his room to hang out, and Kat searching the place for her husband.

She eventually found him in one of the many rooms filled with hats, something he told her was from his time in Wonderland. To her utter amusement, he was looking through a telescope.

"You do realize that's spying right?" Kat joked, causing her husband to jump slightly, having not expected her to be there.

"Kat, when did you get home?" Jefferson asked flustered at being caught.

"A while ago." Kat smiled, walking over to him, "So what were you looking at?"

She heard him cough as she bent down to look into the telescope that he was previously looking through. To her surprise, he actually _was _spying, the telescope was pointing at Grace's classroom. She glanced up at him to see him shifting nervously.

"Old habits die hard." He told her as she straightened up.

"From when Grace was with our neighbors?" Kat asked, though she knew that was probably when he developed that habit.

"Yeah…" He muttered, looking away. He felt guilty that he still spied on his daughter like this … but he needed to make sure that she was safe and that … that this wasn't just some sick dream he was torturing himself with.

"Hey." He heard Kat call out, but didn't look at her until he felt her hand gently touch his cheek, making him look at her, "She's fine now, she's with you. I'm with you. You don't need to worry so much anymore."

Jefferson smiled down at her, comforted by her words. "Thank you." He told her, grateful for her putting up with him and telling him what he needed to hear.

"You don't need to thank me for anything." Kat shook her head, not understanding why he said that. She then used the hand she still had on his cheek to guide him down to where her head was, capturing his lips with her own once he was close enough.

**XXXXX****XXXXX****XXXXX**

Later that night, when Jefferson and Kat were embracing each other in bed, enjoying the afterglow of events that had just taken place, neither had noticed nor heard the joyful howling that came from far into the woods that surrounded the home.

* * *

So yeah, had to go out and buy a new charger at an apple store due to impatience and the fact that I had a project due basically Sunday night. I also have something else to say... I'm kinda loosing interest in writing at the moment, mostly because my current class and I'm thinking more about my Doctor Who fics that I plan on posting once I finish this story. Now, that is not to say that I will be giving up on this story, not at all, but... if needed I might need to put it on a short hiatus to finish up the chapters. I have a total of 42 chapters planned out for this fic, so far as it stops with the season 2 finale, and I am currently writing out chapter 32, which I have for several weeks. Hopefully, once I get the chance to watch Sunday episode of OUAT, as I was busy working on my class project that night, I'll get inspired to write for this fic again, if not, there might be a small hiatus. Sorry about the long note, but I figured I'd let you guys know in advance that there might be a slight delay in this story in a few weeks.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. It is quite possible for them to make inedible cookies. My one friend, half the things she makes end up inedible or make you as sick as Kyle was in the previous chapter. It also doesn't help that Kat is not that good of a cook, or baker.

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	26. Chapter 26: Lost and Lonely

Chapter 26: Lost and Lonely

_Ten Years Ago_

Kat grimaced as she clenched her eyes shut tightly. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed with an arm stretched out in front of her as if she was offering something. She sat like that for several more moments before opening her eyes with a groan.

"I can't do it!" She groaned out.

"Yes, you can, Katrin. It is a very simple concept." Jareth told her from where he was leaning on the wall.

"Simple for _you_ maybe!" Kat snapped at the man. She had been trying to conjure a crystal for three hours now, as far as she was concerned she probably had absolutely no magical talent at all. "And I told you don't call me that!"

"It is simple for you, as well, Katrin." Jareth responded, ignoring her last statement, "Magic runs through our veins. Even now I can sense the magic around you."

"Yeah, well I don't feel so magical." Kat muttered, staring down at her hand blankly. She didn't think she'd ever get this.

"Try again." Jareth ordered her.

"If it hasn't worked the last fifty times I tried, what makes you think it will work now!" Kat snapped as she glared up at the fae. She was fed up. "I ain't gonna fucking get this. Its impossible."

"You will get it. Now try again." Jareth argued as he glared right back.

"Screw you. I wish you would just go away!" Kat shouted, causing the blonde to disappear. She thought nothing of it, having already learnt that every time that she had said 'I wish', the goblins and their king were practically forced to follow her command, a mix of because of who her biological parents were being the reason for it. There were some limits to what she could, or even would, command them to do, but that didn't mean she wouldn't use it whenever she got the chance. Once the medieval reject was gone, Kat sighed and fell backwards onto her bed. "I'm never gonna understand magic."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

Grace and Kat sat at a booth in Granny's diner; the two were having lunch there. Jefferson had suggested it, as the two didn't have much bonding time yet, mainly due to him hogging all of his wife's spare time.

When the two ordered their food, Kat realized that Grace had a few of her eating habits, such as wanting only a tomato slice for her burger but asking to have it on the side.

"Mama?" Grace asked after Red walked off to get their drinks.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you were going to teach me how to contact juggle?" Grace asked, causing Kat to freeze slightly, which her daughter had noticed, "Mama?"

"I don't think I will, Grace." Kat told her gently, trying not to upset the girl, "At least not for a while."

"Why not?"

"Because the man who taught me it was the man who took me away from you and your papa." Kat explained, "I really don't want to think of him at the moment."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten Years Ago_

Kat was lying on her bed, listening to her CD player when Tobi entered the room. He had known that Kat was in there practicing magic earlier, but was wondering if it was over when he didn't hear anything for a while, it was either that or Kat snapped and killed Jareth. He was very grateful she agreed to take the anger management classes without any difficulty. Thankfully, it was apparently over as there was no body or blood on the ground.

"Hey, Uncle Tobi." Kat greeted as she removed her headphones.

"How'd it go?" Tobi asked, causing his niece to groan, "That bad, huh?"

"I don't even see why he even bothers." Kat told him as he sat on the edge of her bed, "I'm never gonna be able to use magic."

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually." Tobi tried to reassure her.

"I've been at this crap for _five months_ now." Kat cried out in frustration, "Five months and I still can't even conjure a fucking crystal to preform the magic with."

"Have you tried looking at the books Jareth gave you?" He asked, gesturing to the ancient-looking, leather-bond books lying on her desk.

"Yeah, they ain't helping much."

"Maybe you missed something in them." Tobi told her.

"Doubt it, I think I have them memorized by now."

"Well, I'm gonna go order pizza, do you want anything special?"

"Yeah, can I get a meatball parm." Kat asked as Tobi stood up and began to walk to the door.

"Sure, Kat." The blonde smiled at the seventeen-year-old before walking out of her room, closing the door behind him.

Kat put her headphones back on to continue listening to her CD when she glanced back at the books on the desk. A moment later, she glanced at them again and sighed. She then shut off her CD player and got off the bed.

"Maybe I should try the books again." She muttered to herself as she walked over to her desk.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

Kat and Grace were just getting their food when they saw two familiar faces enter the diner. When Belle and Rumplestiltskin were close enough, Kat decided to greet them.

"Hello, Mr. Gold, Belle." She said, not noticing the odd look she got from her daughter.

"Oh, hello." Belle greeted upon recognizing who had spoken, "You were the one who took my order the other day. Your name was Kat, correct?"

"Yep." The Halfling nodded. She then watched as Belle got a curious look on her face at seeing the hamburgers.

"What are those?"

"Hamburgers." Kat explained, recalling how the woman near her had been rather isolated up until recently, not even knowing what an iced tea was. "They're a disk of beef placed between two pieces of bread. Though it sometimes also has lettuce, tomato and pickles in between."

"It looks good." Belle commented as she looked at the food.

"Then we'll have that for lunch, dearie." Rumplestiltskin told the girl, causing her to look up at him.

"Alright." Belle nodded before Rumplestiltskin led her to one of the empty booths.

Once they left, Grace decided to ask her mother something, "Why did you say hi to Mr. Gold?"

"Why not." Kat countered back, not seeing the problem.

"Well, he's a bad guy, isn't he?" Grace told her, "He was the Dark One back in the Enchanted Forest."

"He was also one of the many people who your father and I worked for before you were born." Kat told Grace, figuring she might as well tell her child, "In fact, it was on a job for him that I found out I was pregnant with you."

"Really?" Grace asked, curious, "Papa never told me that he worked with Rumplestiltskin."

"I don't know why." Kat shrugged, before going back to the topic they were on prior to seeing Belle and Rumplestiltskin, "So, what do you want to do today?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten Years Ago_

Kat leaned against her desk as she stared down at the open book. Her eyes were scanning the many lines of text that were visible to her. Eventually, the brunette found something that seemed to be useful, and she looked over the paragraph several times before reading it out loud.

"Conjuring magic needs a peace of mind. If one is frantic when trying to draw their magic they could loose control. Once one can feel their magic, they can use it however they wish for as long as they continue to feel it." She read out loud before sighing, "'Peace of mind', huh? Yeah, fat chance of that happening." She then tossed her book back onto the desk, not caring about how it disturbed the other items on her desk at impact. "How the _hell_ am I gonna feel peace of mind?" She wondered out loud. Peace was a rare thing she ever felt, it became even rarer after her parent's died and she ended up going to the Underground to rescue her brother.

So the brunette wandered back to her bed and laid down as she attempted to recall what used to make her feel peaceful. Her mind drifted to almost a year before, when she still had her parents and was still unaware of magic and monsters. She thought of how much joy she felt when she was practicing for a tournament or when watching one of her mother's plays, or just hanging out with her father or brother. She thought of the time her parents took her to the beach, and of the time she beat her father in a video game. She thought of so many happy times in her past that she knew she would never relive. A few months ago, those memories would have upset her, made her either angry or sad, but by now, she only felt peace and joy from them.

Holding onto those feelings, Kat thought of the crystal that she had been trying to summon earlier, envisioning it in her hand.

Brown eyes fluttered open when the brunette suddenly felt something smooth in her hands. Looking down, she saw a crystal orb, about the size of her palm, lying in her hands.

She was finally getting a grasp on magic.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Present Day_

Grace could feel the wind rushing through her hair. She felt terrified and excited all at once as she clung to her mother's waist, hoping she would not lose her grip and fall, which would most likely be painful.

After a few minutes, Grace had asked if her mother could take her out for a ride on the motorcycle. Sure, there was not that much road for the two to drive on in town, but it didn't matter; Grace was enjoying herself. She was starting to see why her mama loved riding.

Of course, like all good things, it eventually ended when Kat hit the breaks right by their home.

"So," Kat started as she took off her helmet, shaking her head a bit in an attempt to rid herself of helmet hair, "How was it?"

Grace grinned as she, with less ease than her mother, removed her helmet. "It was amazing, Mama, I loved it. Can we go again?"

"In a bit, Grace." Kat chuckled, recalling the first time she had rode a motorcycle, she reacted much like Grace currently was.

"Aww." The blonde pouted, "Why not now?"

"Because." Kat started, giving her daughter a look, "Don't you have homework to do?"

"Heh," She nervously laughed, "You remembered."

"Yeah, I remembered." Kat said, though her voice was stern there was obvious amusement in it, "Now let's get inside so you can work on it."

"Yes, Mama." Grace said dejectedly. She, like any child, would rather be doing anything else than her homework.

"And once you finish we can go for another ride." Kat said, already half way to the door. That of course, perked the ten-year-old up and she ran for the door, eager to finish her homework so she could go for another ride.

Kat watched as Grace ran into the house and chuckled. She knew how to get the girl motivated to do her homework now. That had been something she used to use, actually still uses, on her brother, which her mother used on her. Find something that the kid wanted to do, and use it as motivation to get the kid to finish their homework. Kat knew how much of a pain she used to be when it came to homework. One time she hadn't even started it before her bedtime and got zeros for the work, which got her parents mad at her. That was when her mom had started to use motivation to get Kat to do her homework, that being watching her mother in plays or going to a fencing tournament.

Soon enough, Kat made it inside the house. Upon entering she saw Grace sitting in the living room working on her homework. She smiled lightly before closing the front door and walking over to her child, planning on helping the girl if she needed it.

* * *

Okay, so I have gotten chapter 32 done and starting chapter 33.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I figured that Jefferson would probably think that he was in a dream if he got both Grace and his wife back.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. As usual, reviews are greatly appreciated.


	27. Chapter 27: Heard About a Place Today

Chapter 27: Heard About a Place Today

"A what?" Kat blinked in confusion as she stared at Red, not really sure what she was talking about. Despite not really needing to now, as she lived with Jefferson, Kat still offered to help Red out at the diner every once in a while. She was just cleaning up a table when Red came over to her to ask her about something.

"A girl's night out." Red repeated, "C'mon, you know, where you and your gal pals go hang out around town."

"No." Kat shook her head, "Most of my friends outside of Storybrooke are male."

"Seriously?" Red questioned, eyebrow raised.

"I hated drama in high school and was into sports more than make-up." Kat sighed. It was something her uncle sometimes joked with her about, that she should have been born a boy with the way she acted.

"Well, then I guess this will have to be your first one then." Red told her.

"Who else is going to be a part of this? And what are we going to do?" Kat asked, now curious as to what they were going to do.

"Just you, me and Belle." Red explained, "We'll go to the bar down the street to hang out during the night. Maybe come back to Granny's and watch some movies. And just chat."

"Hmm…" Kat thought about it for a moment before figuring there was no harm in going, "Alright."

"Great!" The werewolf cheered, "Meet you at the library at eight o'clock, okay?"

"Okay." The brunette nodded before watching Red walk off to take some one's order.

Once the young mother finished cleaning off the table, she walked to counter to get an order from Granny. As she walked, she thought of what was going to happen that night. She could already guess that it would be interesting.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

All too soon, eight o'clock came and the brunette made her way to the library. When she got there, she saw Red pulling Belle out of the library.

"Trust me, it'll be fun." She heard Red reassure the bookworm.

"But I still have a lot of work to do." Belle tried to protest.

"That can wait." Red told her, just as she noticed Kat nearing them, "Hey, Kat!" The werewolf waved her hand, motioning the girl to come closer, "Help me convince Belle that she needs to relax."

"If you want, we can help you with setting up the library tomorrow." Kat suggested.

"Alright." Belle nodded, surrendering to Red's plans, "Thank you for the offer."

"No problem." Kat shrugged.

"What are friends for?" Red said, going along with Kat's suggestion. She had no problem with helping Belle out in the library, especially if it would convince Belle to hang out for the night.

"So…" Kat turned to Red, as she was the one who had planned the whole outing, and was also the most familiar with the town, "Where is the bar?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The three girls sat at a table in the bar. Each girl had a drink in their hands as they chatted and laughed about random things. They each had different drinks. Red had a margarita, Kat was nursing a small bottle of Jack Daniels, and Belle was trying an appletini, upon Red's suggestion.

"And then, the guy started to charge at us like a freaking bull. We had to run for the portal. And running on such a slippery ground that we were on was kind of difficult. We were slipping half the time and almost got killed by the guy quite a few times," Kat continued her story about one of the many jobs that she and Jefferson had, "In the end, me and Jefferson ended up basically doing a home run slide into the portal."

Red and Kat started to laugh at that, not noticing at first that Belle was confused. Soon enough, they noticed and their laughter quieted down. "What's a home run slide?" The woman asked.

"Oh, it's a baseball term," Kat told her, "Basically when the batter is running to the fourth and final base, they sometimes start to slide halfway towards it to get there faster."

"Alright." Belle nodded, somewhat understanding.

"It's your turn, Ruby, got any good stories to tell us?" Kat asked, looking over at the werewolf.

"Well, there was the time I helped Snow and Charming take back the castle from King George." Red stated, frowning slightly. She, for good reasons, had not yet gotten over the fact that George had tried to frame her and killed Billy just to ruin Charming's reputation.

"Hmm, do tell." Kat said, interested. She was curious as to what happened in the Enchanted Forest after Jareth had taken her back to New York.

"Yes, it sounds fascinating already." Belle said, curious as to how the tale would go.

"Ok." Red nodded before proceeding to speak of her past.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Wow… haven't seen VHS's in so long." Kat laughed, looking at the Red's collection of movies.

"We were cursed." Red tried to defend herself, "We've been cursed for twenty-eight years, we didn't really get many DVDs in town."

"I've noticed." Kat muttered, recalling how old everything was in town, from the cars and buildings to the reading material to the technology.

"So what do you guys want to watch?" Red asked as she looked at her collection, she soon pulled out a tape and showed her friends her choice, "How about this?"

"'The Dark Crystal'?" Kat muttered, "No thanks. I've met creatures like the ones in that movie in the Underground before and I really don't need a reminder of that place anytime soon."

"Okay, then what do you recommend?" Red asked.

Kat leaned over and looked at the different tapes before finally pulling one off the shelf and showing it to her friends, "What about this?"

"The Grudge?" Red asked, "Why am I not surprised that you picked a horror?"

"Heh." Kat laughed before turning to Belle, "What do you think?"

"Well, I'm not too sure about a horror film." Belle said, "May I choose?"

"Sure." Red shrugged while Kat nodded. Belle was the most new to things in this world, Kat having been born and raised here and Red was trapped in Storybrooke for twenty-eight years. Though Belle _was_ in Storybrooke during that time as well, she was trapped in a psych ward.

"Ok," Belle nodded before kneeling down to look at the collection Red owned. A few minutes later, Belle grabbed a tape off the shelf and showed it to her friends, causing them to laugh. "What's so funny?" The confused woman asked.

"You have no idea how ironic that is." Kat told the brunette between howls of laughter. While they were out drinking, Belle had told them about when she was Rumple's servant back in the Enchanted Forest and how she slowly grew to love him.

"What?" Belle asked.

"'Beauty and the Beast', that's basically your story." Red told the naïve girl, still laughing as the girl continued to hold up the Disney movie.

"Huh?" Belle said before eventually starting to laugh along with the girls.

Eventually the three had settled on a movie and watched it. Once the movie was over, Belle and Kat had decided to head back to their respective homes.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

When Kat arrived at her home, it was well past midnight, and all of her family was most likely asleep. Doing her best to keep quiet, the woman walked down the hall to her and Jefferson's room.

**Creak**

Kat flinched slightly when the door creaked open. She glanced over at the bed, hoping she had not disturbed her husband's sleep, only to find him awake and was actually sitting in a chair that was in the corner.

"Hey." Jefferson greeted, placing down the book he was reading.

"Hey," Kat nodded as she entered the room, closing the door behind her, "You weren't waiting up for me, were you?"

"No," Jefferson said though the way he shifted his eyes away made it clear that he had, "How was your day?"

"It was nice." She said, letting him lie about waiting up, "After work I hung out with Belle and Ruby."

"Did you have fun?" He asked as he watched his wife start to change out of her clothes and put on her pajamas.

"Yeah, we went to the bar, chatted and then walked over to Ruby's to watch a movie."

"Interesting. What movie did you watch?" When she didn't respond, Jefferson grew curious, especially since she stiffened when he asked, "Kat?"

"Promise not to laugh?"

"I promise."

"Alice in Wonderland."

* * *

Holy crud, I now have a total of 50 reviews. Thank you so much, everyone who has reviewed this story, I honestly didn't think that I would ever have that many. (Yes, to some that isn't much, but I don't think that well of my writing abilities so 50 is a lot to me.) I would especially like to thank kykyxstandler has reviewed almost every single chapter, it means so much to me to know that there is, at the very least, one person who is reading all of the chapters for this story.

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. Sorry, but this chapter didn't have much Jefferson in it, he'll be back in chapter 29. He isn't really willing to have much of social life in Storybrooke, unlike Kat, mostly because Charming might try to force him to make a hat to get Emma and Snow back if the prince happens to spot him.

So, what did you guys think of the preview for the season 2 finale, I thought it was interesting, it might change some ideas I have already for season 3. The reason I bring this up is, because, as a small treat for now having 50 reviews, I'm going to give you some things to look foreword before season 2 ends in this fic: Two flashbacks about Jareth and Sarah, some flirting with Jefferson and Kat (including the start of their relationship), Kat learning about the those who despise magic, and Faline during the Curse.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are greatly appreciated!


	28. Chapter 28: Nothing Ever Hurts Again

Chapter 28: Nothing Ever Hurts Again

Kat and Grace were once again at the diner. Grace sat at the counter, drinking a milkshake while her mother was working. Grace had asked if she could go with her mother to work, still wanting to spend as much time with her as she could, and Kat had agreed. The blonde was currently watching as her mother took someone's order.

**RING**

The ten-year-old looked over at the door and smiled when she saw that it was Kyle who had entered the diner. "Uncle Kyle!" She greeted happily, waving her arm slightly at the older boy.

"Hey, kiddo." Kyle greeted his niece as he walked over to her, once he was close enough, he place a hand on her head and slightly ruffled her hair. He then plopped down on the stool next to hers and turned towards Red, who was working the counter at the moment. "Hey, Ruby, can I get a burger and fries?" He asked.

"You have the money to pay for it?" Red smirked, joking around with the teen. Since the Willis siblings had entered the town, Red had started to consider the younger sibling almost like a brother of her own.

"Yeah." Kyle responded, digging through his pocket to get out a ten dollar bill.

"Alright then," Red said as she took the money from the teen and put it into the register and then handing him back his change, "I'll go get you burger and fries when they're done cooking."

"Thank, Ruby!" Kyle called out to the woman who had moved down the counter to go to other customers. He then turned to look at his niece, "So what's up, Grace?"

"Nothing much." The girl shrugged, "Just enjoying a day off from school."

"Guh," The teen groaned, "School…" He had just recently started to go to the high school in Storybrooke, and, like most teenagers, not really enjoying it. It didn't help that there weren't that many students in the class, many of the seniors had decided to skip school altogether since they had endured it for so long, so there weren't that many who he could even speak with.

Grace giggled before going back to her milkshake. The two sat silently for a while, Kyle waiting for his food to arrive.

"When'd you get here, squirt?" At the question, the two sitting at the counter turned around to see Kat standing there.

"Hey, sis, I got here a few minutes ago." Kyle told her.

"Heh," Kat smirked before lightly punching the teen in the arm, "Have you finished your homework yet?"

"Maybe…" Kyle said, shifting his eyes away from his sister.

"When you get home, finish it." She told him.

"Yes, sis." The blonde male groaned out.

"Glad I did my homework already." Grace teased the teen.

Kyle glanced at the little girl before rolling his eyes playfully, "Yep, you're definitely Kat's daughter." His comment caused Grace's smile to widen, taking it as a compliment while her mother rolled her eyes, knowing what the teen actually meant.

Red then came along with a plate of food, stopping in front of the teen, "Here you go, Kyle, hamburger and fries." She told him as she placed the food down.

"Thanks, Ruby." Kyle said before starting to eat his food.

**BRING BR-BRIIING BRING!**

"I'll get that." Kat said before walking over to the phone, "Hello? … Leroy, what's wrong? Okay, okay, I'll tell her." Kat suddenly moved the phone away from her and looked at it in worry and confusion.

"What's wrong?" Red asked as she walked over to the confused woman.

"I don't know." Kat shook her head before looking at the red-clad woman, "Leroy said there was an emergency at the mines."

"The mines…" Red repeated before her eyes widened, "The diamonds!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Cait smirked as she sat in the tree above the well. She had been behind Regina when the former queen was speaking with the Dark One in his shop. Though Regina had no idea. The assassin-for-hire now knew that the Queen of Hearts would possibly be attending their party known as life.

The Queen of Hearts… she had been the one who gave her the job to kidnap Regina's father, and it was because of that job that Cait ended up here in Storybrooke. But she felt no ill will towards her former client; a job was a job after all. The only one that she felt should be hurt was Regina. If the Queen of Hearts was going to come… maybe that would just be what the Cheshire needed to exact her revenge.

The former Queen had no idea that her tormentor was a few meters above her head, grinning like the Cheshire she was.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Red and Kat ran into the mines, they had left Granny with working at the diner, Kyle offering to help out there once he finished his food.

"Leroy!" Red shouted, "What's the emergency? Leroy." The two were confused to find the dwarf staring up at the ceiling of the mines in a daze.

"They're gone. They're all gone." Grumpy states blankly, still in shock. The two females looked up to see the diamonds missing, every single one of them.

"Who could have done this?" Kat wondered out loud.

"Regina." Regina says in realization.

Red, Kat and the dwarves entered Mr. Gold's shop, expecting to see Rumplestiltskin and Regina there, but instead only found Henry and a sleeping Charming.

"Where are they?" Red asks Henry before clarifying, "Regina and Gold."

"What's going on?" The confused boy asked.

"All the magic has been drained from the mines." Red tells Henry.

"They stole it?" Henry asked, now even more confused.

"They snuck in after our shift and took everything." Grumpy tells him "Nobody steals from a dwarf!"

"Except the Queen." Doc inputted.

"And Rumplestiltskin." Happy added, only to be glared at by Grumpy.

"If they're not helping Emma and Mary Margaret that… that means my mom lied to me." Henry said, looking heartbroken. He thought Regina had changed for the better.

"I'm sorry, Henry." Kat says sympathetically. She understood what it felt like to be betrayed by a parent.

"We need to find her. We need to stop them." Henry said, "We need to help Emma and Mary Margaret."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Kat, Red and Henry ran through the forest, Red tracking Regina's scent. By then though, Kat could tell where the Queen was, she could sense the powerful magic that was flowing. Despite not knowing what kind of spell it was, the brunette's gut was telling her that is definitely wasn't good.

Soon enough, the three find Regina and Rumplestiltskin at a well. The well was flashing dangerously.

"Mom?" Henry calls out, causing the two to look at the three. Henry walks over towards his step-mother. "You're not helping Emma and Mary Margaret, are you?" He questions.

"I'm helping you, Henry." Regina responds.

"What are you talking about?" Henry asks.

"You're going to kill them." Red stated, walking forward, Kat following the girl.

"Sorry, dearies." The Dark One said before waving an arm up causing the two women to be thrown backwards and land on their backs, knocked out.

"Mom!" Henry cries out, "Wh-what are you doing?"

"We can't let Cora come through the portal." Regina tells her son, "You have _no_ idea what she would do to us." Thoughts of what Cora had done to her and what she _could_ do to Henry flashed through the former Queen's mind. There was no way that she would endanger Henry like that, she loved him too much.

"Emma and Mary Margaret are going to defeat her." He told her, optimistically, "They're the ones that are going to come through."

"Henry, your mother's right." Rumplestiltskin told the boy, "It's going to be Cora."

"No. It won't." Henry stated firmly, "Good always defeats evil. You should know that more than anyone."

Regina stared at her son for a moment before leaning down, needing to get it through Henry's head the danger he could be in. "What I know is my mother will destroy _everything_ I love, and that means you. And I _can't_ let that happen." She really couldn't, it would kill her if something happened to Henry because she allowed Cora to come through.

Henry charged forward, to try to stop whatever spell they had placed on the well, only for Regina to grab him. But the boy still struggled to reach the well. "You can't! Stop it! You can't!" He cried out, "You're gonna kill them! Please! No! They're going to make it through! We have to turn it off! You're gonna kill them!" Using all his strength, Henry finally pulled out of Regina's grasp and headed for the well. He just made it to the well when Regina pulled him back, holding him by the shoulders.

"Henry!" She cried out as she moved him away from the well, "What are you doing?"

"Emma and Mary Margaret are going to come through. I know it." Henry assures her, "You said you wanted to change, to be better. This is how. You want me to have faith in you? Have faith in _me_."

His words had obviously struck Regina, as she stared at him. Slowly, she let go of her son and walked over to the well.

"Regina." Rumplestiltskin called out, knowing what she was about to do.

Regina, however, ignored her former teacher and stood in front of the well. Placing her hands over the opening, she absorbed the spell that she and Rumplestiltskin had cast, removing it from the well to allow whoever was going to come through the portal safely into Storybrooke.

Henry and Rumplestiltskin watched in amazement and horror as Regina's body convulsed, still absorbing the spell. Eventually, the woman fell to the ground, exhausted. Henry stared at the well for just a bit longer. When nothing happened, the boy realized what must have happened.

"No!" He cried out in disbelief. Emma and Mary Margaret couldn't be gone, they just couldn't…

"I'm sorry, Henry." Regina said from where she was leaning against a tree, her voice breaking as she spoke. The devastation on her son's face hurt her so much, because she was partially to blame. "I'm sorry." She whispered once more.

They stared at the well for a few more moments when they suddenly heard movement from inside it. Rumplestiltskin looked at the well in confusion, having thought the spell had worked before Regina stopped it. Relief came flooding through Henry when he saw a hand stick out of the well and grab onto the ledge, followed by an arm. Eventually, a familiar blonde's head came into view.

"Mom?" He called out quietly, as if thinking that this was nothing but a dream.

Soon enough, both Emma and Snow were out of the well. Emma turned to see her son and happily called out his name, "Henry!"

"Mom!" Henry shouted before running over to his mother, the two quickly embracing.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too."

"I missed you so much." Emma told her son as Snow joined their hug.

When Rumplestiltskin started to, quietly, move away from the area Snow and Emma finally noticed their surroundings.

"What's going on?" Snow asked as she looked between the standing up Regina and exiting Rumplestiltskin, "What happened?"

As the man walked past Red and Kat, the two girls woke up and started to stand up.

"She save you." Henry told Emma, defending his step-mother, "She saved both of you."

"Thank you." Emma said gratefully as she looked at Regina.

"You're welcome." Regina said breathlessly, still tired from absorbing the spell.

It was at that moment that Kat and Red ran into their view, happy to see the two previously lost women back in Storybrooke.

"Are you okay?" Red called out. Once she was near, Red quickly hugged her best friend, happy to see Snow was alright.

Kat stood back a bit, knowing she wasn't as close to the family as Red was. The brunette was curious as to how they managed to get through, but one good look at Regina was all she needed to figure it out.

Regina caught her look and sent her back a questioning one. Kat just shook her head and sent the woman an appreciative smile. It was obvious to Kat that there was still good in Regina, and that good was mainly towards Henry's happiness.

"Where's my husband?" Snow asked suddenly, causing the twenty-seven-year-old to look at her. "I need to find him."

"Uh-huh." Red said before starting to lead Snow back towards the pawn shop.

"I'll go tell everyone at the diner the good news." Kat said, before following Red and Snow out of the forest. As she followed the two out, she couldn't help but get the feeling that while things seem to be over, they were actually just beginning.

* * *

Sorry that this is slightly late. Class this month is 1pm-5pm then 9pm-1am Monday-Friday.

Thank you, kolla00, for the review. I am glad that you are enjoying this story so far.

Thank you, Supernova13, for the review. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. (I update ever week on Tuesday, unless something unforeseen happens and I can't but then I'd update as soon as I could)

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. They'll be coming eventually (though I still need to write most of those scenes out still)

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated.


	29. Chapter 29: One Pill Makes You Larger

Chapter 29: One Pill Makes You Larger

"You sure you don't want to go?" Kat asked for what must have been the hundredth time.

"I'm sure, Alice." Jefferson told her as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Its not like they're going to try and force you to make a hat now that Emma and Mary Margaret are back." That had been the only reason that Jefferson had stayed away from the public eye up until then. He feared that Charming would lock him up like the Queen of Hearts had in his quest to get back his wife and daughter. Not that he could blame the man, considering the things he did to try and get his own wife and child back. One of which was the reason he didn't feel like going.

"I don't think that Snow White or Emma would be too thrilled to see be after my last encounter with them."

"Oh, right." Kat muttered, having forgotten that he had kidnapped Snow to force Emma to make him a hat, "Sorry."

"It's alright, my love." Jefferson reassured her before kissing her on the temple, "Now go have fun at the party with your brother, alright?"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Everyone in the party cheered when Snow, Emma, Charming, and Henry walked through the door. Red ran over to her friend and gave her a hug almost immediately.

"I wasn't worried a bit." Red told her best friend, still hugging her.

"I can tell," Snow responded jokingly before letting go of Red, allowing the woman to hug Emma.

"Oh, we all missed you." Jiminy told the woman as he walked over, hugging her as well.

"Tacos." Emma told Granny, gesturing to the container in her hands, "I cannot tell you the _relief_ of cooking something that I didn't have to _kill_ first."

"Don't I know it," Granny told the blonde, "Meatloaf back home? What a bitch."

Kat chuckled lightly, knowing exactly what the old woman was talking about. It was a good thing Kat was handy with a sword, otherwise it would have been even harder to cook half the time.

"Glad I never had to live there." Kyle muttered quietly, causing his sister to elbow him lightly.

Once Emma handed the tacos over to Granny, Kat walked over to the blonde and gave her a small hug, "Great to see you guys alive and well."

"Thanks." Emma smiled, before recalling something, "Wait, isn't your motorcycle fixed by now."

"It is." Kat told her, "I'll save the details for later, but basically, me and my brother are staying in town."

Emma, curious now, began to ask the woman about it but was cut off.

**Clink Clink Clink**

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned towards the Prince who had tapped a glass to get their attention.

"I just wanted to, uh, thank you all for joining us tonight. Mary Margaret and I, we have a saying, that we will always find each other, and while I believe that with all my heart, I'd like you all t raise your glasses and join me when I say, here's to not having to look for a while." Charming's last sentence caused a rouse of laughter to come from the group as they raised their glasses, "To Mary Margaret and Emma." They all cheered, happy to have the two women back.

**Ring**

Everyone turned towards the door, and to their shock, the person entering was Regina. The former Queen smiled as she entered, holding a container in one arm as she moved the door out of her way with the other.

"Sorry I'm late." Regina apologized, though not a soul responded, and most looked angry that she was even there.

"What is she doing here?" Grumpy asked as he picked up a knife from the counter.

"I invited her." Emma states plainly as Regina placed her container on the counter.

Obviously questioning their daughter's sanity, Snow dragged Emma over to Charming so they could have a private discussion.

As they had their discussion, Henry walked over to his step-mother. After Regina began to give him a piece of her food, Henry told her, "I'm glad you came."

"Me, too." Regina smiled down at the boy before looking over at the nearest person, who happened to be Grumpy, "Oh, I made lasagna."

"What's the secret ingredient?" Grumpy asked suspiciously, "Poison?"

"Red pepper flakes." She said before putting a small amount in her mouth, as if to prove to the man it was not poison, "Gives it some kick." She then offered the plate to Grumpy, who took it, sniffing it to make sure it wasn't poison, still not trusting of the woman. Regina watched with a frown as the man walked away, upset by his suspiciousness, even if it was plausible.

"May I have a piece?" Regina looked over to see Kat standing there, holding a plate up slightly.

"I'm surprised you aren't as angry at me as everyone else." Regina told the girl as she cut out a pieces of lasagna for the brunette.

"Oh, I'm pissed about what you put my husband and child through after I had been taken away from them." Kat said, nodding in thanks as the woman placed the piece on her plate, "This may be my anger management counselor talking but, I won't hold a grudge against you for it as its Jefferson and Grace who should, not me."

"You went to anger management classes?" Regina raised an eyebrow, not having expected that, or that the woman would be so civil towards her.

"Yeah." Kat nodded, scratching her cheek in embarrassment, "When I was still in grade school I used to express my anger with my fists… Needless to say, my parents sent me to anger management classes. Though they really didn't help until… until high school." Kat frowned, not wanting to say that they only helped after her parents died.

"Considering how calm you seemed when I first met you, I never would have guessed." Regina said as Kat began to eat her lasagna. It was somewhat of a comfort that the woman hadn't questioned or checked it for poison.

"Yeah, well, from how you seemed when we first met, I never would have thought you would be such a powerful sorceress." Kat shrugged.

"Gee, thanks." Regina said dully, remembering why she had become a better sorceress.

"I mean it. I can feel the magic coming off you in waves." Kat shrugged.

"And what do you know about magic?" Regina asked, now curious.

"Oh," Kat muttered, recalling that Regina was someone who _didn't_ know that she was a magic user. She was going to say something, but was cut off when her brother walked over, calling her.

"Sis, you gotta try these tacos, they are delicious." Kyle told her, showing her his half-eaten taco for emphasis.

"Alright." Kat laughed before turning back to Regina, "Um, thanks for the piece of lasagna, it was delicious. It was nice talking with you."

"Yes, you too." Regina muttered as Kat walked away.

Kat hadn't realized how much time had passed as she chatted with her brother, but, by the time she went to go see how Regina was doing, figuring that the woman would be lonely at the party, she was no longer in the diner.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The next night, Kat and her family were sitting in one of the many rooms of the mansion, watching a children's movie. Kat was sitting in Jefferson's lap on the couch while Grace sat next to them and Kyle sat cross-legged on the floor.

As they were watching the movie, Kat suddenly felt a sudden rise in magic. Kat stared at nothing as she concentrated on the feeling. It was very powerful, no doubt about it, it also felt similar to Regina's magic, only more experienced. It wasn't Rumplestiltskin's magic, however, that man's magic was very powerful but didn't feel quiet as similar to Regina's as this person's.

"Kat?" Jefferson called out, noticing the blank look on his wife's face, "Alice?"

"Huh?" The brunette muttered, snapping out of her trance.

"What's wrong?" He muttered quietly, not wanting to concern his daughter who was laughing along with Kyle at the movie.

"I'm not sure." Kat told him, just as quiet, "But whatever it is, it most likely isn't good."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Bye, mama!" Grace waved her arm as she headed towards the school.

"I'll see you after school, Grace." Kat called out before putting on her helmet. She had just dropped off her brother at the high school and was currently making sure her daughter made it to the school. Once the blonde was inside the building, she revved up her bike and headed back home. She still had an hour or so before her shift at the diner started, so she was going to spend that time before it with her husband.

As she drove back home, she felt her phone vibrate in the front pocket on her jeans. Figuring it was nothing too important, Kat continued her drive; planning on calling whomever it was back once she got home.

Soon enough, she pulled up to the, now ever so familiar, house. Once she took off her helmet, she dug out her phone, remembering that she had gotten a call during her drive. She was slightly confused when she noticed that it was Red who had called her. Perhaps Kat needed to head in early or something, breakfast rush tended to range in how crowded it got depending on the day.

Kat dialed the werewolf's number as she walked up the stairs to the front door. She entered the house and made her way to the kitchen as she listened to it ring. When Red finally picked up, the brunette had just met her husband in the kitchen and gave him a good morning kiss.

"Hey, Ruby, what's up? … Sorry, I was driving back home after dropping Kyle and Grace off at school. … What's wrong, Ruby?" At that point, Jefferson sent his wife a curious glance at the concerned tone in her voice. Obviously something was wrong. "Wh-what? … Wait, are you sure she was the one who did it? … No, I'm not taking any sides here, Ruby, I just think you shouldn't jump to conclusions based on what she's previously done. … Oh. ... Do you still want me to come by anyways?… I'll talk to you later, Ruby." She then hung up her cell phone and placed a hand over her forehead, covering her eyes slightly.

"What's wrong?" Jefferson asked as he got up from his seat, wrapping his arms around his wife.

"Archie's dead." Kat muttered, her voice slightly shaken. She may not have really spoken with the man, but she still knew he was a good man, "Regina killed him."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Regina cried as she watched Emma tell Henry about how she, supposedly, killed Jiminy. She knew her son would never trust her again now. The worst part of it all was that she really wasn't the one to blame. Yes, she had the argument with the cricket early in the morning yesterday, but she didn't see him after that, and she definitely did _not_ kill him.

"My, my. How the mighty have fallen." Regina jumped slightly before whipping around, seeing Cait sitting in the back seat, grinning insanely.

"What are you doing here, Cheshire?" She asked coldly, though its effect was somewhat lost due to the sadness that was still in her voice.

"I had heard that the Queen of Hearts was coming for a visit. I was disappointed that you tried to revoke her invitation." Cait stated calmly, her grin ever present, "Though I am enjoying the results. How does it feel to have your child taken away from you?"

"…" Regina said nothing as she glared at the grinning teen before she finally snapped, "Get out!"

Cait only chuckled before disappearing from Regina's sight. The former assassin knew who did murdered the cricket, and she was going to go congratulate them.

* * *

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. I hope the beginning of this chapter explained why he hadn't really shown up much in the chapters.

Thank you, Supernova13, for the review. I'm glad you are enjoying this story and the fact that it has Labyrinth in it. I hope that you continue to enjoy this story.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated.


	30. Chapter 30: And One Pill Makes You Small

Chapter 30: And One Pill Makes You Small

_Ten Years Ago_

"A what?" Kat stared blankly at the fae in front of her.

"A ball." Jareth repeated himself, "Surely your poor educational system has taught you about balls."

"Multiple types…" Kat muttered to herself jokingly before responding, "But why are you telling me about this?"

"Every year, I host a ball for all rulers of the Underground, as my daughter, you _must_ attend."

The brunette's eyes narrowed into a glare at the man's answer, angered by it greatly. "First off, I may be related to you by blood, but that does not give you the right to consider me your _anything_. Secondly, I don't have to attend anything, I was well off not attending your balls that last sixteen years of my life, I can deal with not attending them for the rest of mine either."

"It is now known that you are my child throughout the Underground." Jareth stated coldly, glaring at his child just a fiercely as she was, "If you do not attend the ball it would be considered as you not taking the other rulers seriously and could start a war. I doubt you would enjoy that being on your shoulders."

Kat frowned and looked away, knowing that Jareth had won that argument. She was good friends with several of the goblins, she didn't want them to go to war because of her.

"Fine…" Kat muttered, "But there is no _way_ I am wearing a dress!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Kat was running late, she had promised Belle she would come over to the library to help with setting it up. Jefferson apparently had no care for that though, as he continued to kiss her neck and hold her by the waist.

"Jefferson!" Kat laughed, trying to get out of his grip, "C'mon, I gotta go."

"No way." He muttered, gripping her tightly.

"I promised Belle, now c'mon! I don't wanna be any more late."

"You sound like the white rabbit." Jefferson responded before starting to tickle her sides, "Always worried about being late."

"Jefferson!" She laughed even harder before roughly elbowing him in the ribs.

"Oof!" He gasped letting her go in order to grab hold of his stomach.

"Sorry." She apologized sheepishly, "But I really have to go already."

"Alright." Jefferson nodded once he recovered from the hit. He then leaned forward and gave her quick kiss, "Have fun."

"Thanks, have fun with Grace and Kyle." Kat responded before heading out the door.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten Years Ago_

It was doubtful that Kat _wasn't_ muttering every single curse or slur in the English language at the moment, all of which was directed at Jareth. The reason was simple, she had entered the Underground in nice dress clothes, a blouse and dress pants, but the moment she walked out of her room _someone_, namely Jareth, used magic to transform her clothes into a ball gown.

After entering the ballroom, which must have been kept away by magic up until the ball for Kat had never seen this room before and it was obvious that no goblins or chickens ever ran amok in it, she soon found herself lost among the crowd of faes. For the most part they looked human, much like Jareth himself, but they all had a sort of _enchanted_ air about them, and it wasn't just because they were magic beings as Jareth had told her once before. She watched as many of them paired up and danced, while she herself stayed in the back, towards the walls, not wanting to be noticed.

In all honesty, she would have felt better doing her homework than attending this ball. Even if these were not fae but just humans, Kat would feel uncomfortable there. She was not the type of person to enjoy extravagant parties such as this; she was more of the type to go to play soccer in the mud.

So lost in her thoughts was she that she failed to notice a person come up to her.

"Excuse me." Startled, the halflling whipped her head around to look at the person who spoke, "Sorry, did not mean to spook you." It was boy, roughly her age, at least in appearance. He was dark skinned, with messy black hair and red eyes. One of the things that made it obvious that he was not human was his pointed ears that looked like someone had painted the tips in blood.

"What do you want?" Kat asked, before realizing that must have sounded rude to the fae. From what she gathered from Jareth, all fae were basically aristocrats.

"I was wondering if a fair maiden such as yourself would like to dance." Apparently he was not at all offended by her response.

"Sorry, but I don't even know your name." Kat shook her head.

"Then allow me to remedy that." The man said before bowing slightly, grabbing Kat's hand as he did, "My name is Lord Gene, I am the ruler of the Dystopian City."

"Then it's nice to meet you Gene, I am-" Kat started but was cut off by the man.

"Princess Katrin of Goblin City, your father has told me about you." Gene said before kissing her hand. While most girls would blush at such an action, Kat felt nothing but annoyance, it did not help that he had also called her by her full name. When the fae finally let go of her hand, the brunette, none-too-subtly wiped her hand on the back of her dress. "Now about that dance."

Seeing how persistent the man was, Kat sighed and nodded. Gene then took her hand again and led her to the dance floor.

When they made it to the dance floor, it soon became obvious to all that Kat was not one for dancing… especially not in a floor length gown such as the one she was currently in. She kept on either tripping on the gown or stepping on Gene's toes. It also did not help that she did not know any of the dances.

The teen nervously continued the dance with the fae, or at least try to. For a moment, she almost thought that she got the hang of the dance, despite still tripping and stepping on the male's feet, but then it suddenly picked up pace. As her mind began to whirlwind in panic it suddenly halted and became still when she suddenly felt something. A hand groping her backside. She just reacted out of instinct after that.

**SLAP**

******XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

The brunette had just parked her bike a block away from the library when she noticed Rumplestiltskin headed that way. Nothing unusual there, seeing as though the sorcerer was with the librarian. But when Kat took of her helmet, she happened to notice his body language and the look on his face, pure worry and concern.

Now worried herself, Kat quickly got off her bike and walked hurriedly over towards the man.

"Rumplestiltskin?" She called out once she got close to him, "What's wrong?"

"There was someone in the library trying to attack Belle." The man explained quickly, not once slowing his pace.

"What?" Kat breathed before quickening her pace.

Soon enough, the two magic users entered the library. Kat's eyes scanned the area, looking for both Belle and whoever attacked her while Rumplestiltskin headed toward the elevator towards the back. After making sure that whoever was here before was no longer there, Kat followed the man, expecting him to know where the woman was.

The two of them made easy work of opening the elevator.

"Belle!" Rumplestiltskin cried out once the door opened, and soon the girl was in his arms, "It's ok, it's ok." He reassured the frightened girl, before placing his jacket on her shoulders.

"Wh-where, where is he?" She stuttered out.

"He's not here." Kat told the girl, hoping that would calm her down.

"Do you know where he is now?" Belle asked, still frightened but now calmer at knowing her attacker was _not_ in the library.

"I don't know." Rumplestiltskin told his love, "But you've nothing to fear, I'm here now."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten Years Ago_

The entire ball suddenly stopped around Kat, but she didn't pay attention, too busy glaring fiercely at the fae she had danced with.

"What was _that_ for?" Gene exclaimed, startled. He was clutching his cheek, looking at the brunette in shock. All around the two, the fae began to murmur amongst one another.

"Gee, I don't know." Kat responded sarcastically, anger rising up in her, "Maybe its because you fucking coped a feel. You god damn pervert."

"Tch." Gene scoffed, "Obviously you are ignorant to our ways. Unlike humans who you live near, the fae are not as… _picky_ about who they mate with."

Kat's eyes widened at the implication. She had just realized how casual they are about sleeping with one another, and that the fae she had danced with wanted to _dance_ with her. Anger seeped through her veins at that. She didn't care about fae being so loose, but she wasn't like that.

Despite her years in anger management, Kat decided to let her anger take control, and she did the first thing that came to mind.

**POW**

The brunette huffed angrily as she stood over the knocked out fae. She then turned her heated gaze at her spectators, as if daring them to try and disagree with what she did. Soon, she turned her gaze towards the man who was running the ball. Speaking rather calmly compared to how she felt she told him, "I am going home. I'm not going to stay here and be treated like that."

It was like a parting of the red sea after that, with all of the fae moving out of her way as she stalked out of the ballroom, intent on going home.

As she made her way out, she did not notice the ice blue eyes that followed her movements, a smirk on the person's face as they watched her go.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke, Maine_

Cora was walking upon the deck of Hook's ship when she felt something following her. Normally she would have attacked the tail but she knew them, and that they most likely meant no harm.

"I see my daughter dragged you here, Cheshire."

Cait grinned as usual as she began to appear behind Cora. With a sarcastic bow, she greeted, "It is lovely to see you, your majesty. Have fun going through a rabbit's hole?"

"What do you want?"

"Well…" Cait drew out, "I was figuring that since you're in town, we could team up to torture Regina."

* * *

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. The magic that Kat felt was actually Cora's when she 'killed' Archie.

Thank you, amychristine21, for the review. I'm glad that you are enjoying this story so far.

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated.


	31. Ch 31:The One's That Mother Gives You,

Chapter 31: The One's That Mother Gives You, Don't Do A Thing At All

_Storybrooke_

"Why ever would I want that?" Cora asked, sounding confused.

Cait blinked, actually confused. "You're the one who sent me to kidnap her father, weren't ya?"

"Yes, I was."

"I would have thought that meant that you disliked her and wanted to ruin her."

"Times have changed."

"Well then…" Cait muttered, "And people think I'm mad."

"Is that all you wanted?" Cora glared, having heard the insult.

"Well, if not helping me with that, any chance you could send me to Wonderland?" Cait asked. She wanted to go home, even if it meant losing a chance at Regina's head.

"That is out of my range of power, I'm afraid."

"Oh please, than how did you get here?" Cait asked.

That seemed to finally annoy Cora, as the woman summoned a fireball and through it at the cat. Thankfully, Cait had good reflexes, despite the 28 years without training, and managed to dodge it.

Cait rolled her eyes, realizing she was unwelcomed there. "Bloody family is nuts." She muttered to herself as disappeared before the Queen, a grin no longer on her face.

Once the teen was away from the docks, she sighed. She was hoping to get help from Cora, but since the woman had a change of heart, chances were unlikely.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten Years Before  
_  
After the incident at the ball, Kat refused to go back to the Underground. She was angry and embarrassed by what happened. She ended up getting more detentions this past week in school because of it, as she still tended to get into fights with fellow classmates as a way to blow off steam. She was sure that if she hadn't told her uncle as to why she was so angry, he would have flipped out on her for it.

She had made sure to avoid Jareth as well, expecting his royal glittery pain-in-the-ass to go off on her for attacking one of the guests. Sure, she didn't want to be the reason a war started, but she wasn't just going to take that kind of harassment.

It had been a week and a half after the ball when Jareth was finally able to speak to her. He had found her in her bedroom listening to her CD player. When Kat finally decided to take notice of him, she noticed the serious look upon his face.

"We need to talk."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke_

After making sure Belle was alright, Kat offered to clean up the library for Belle while she went with her lover. Belle had been hesitant at first, but after persuasion by both Kat and Rumplestiltskin that she could handle herself if Hook, who Kat found out was the name of Belle's attacker, came back, gave the woman the key to the library and told her to lock up when she was done.

By the time she had gotten the library cleaned up, it was already dark. Because of how late it was, she went to Granny's picked up some dinner for her and her family and then headed for home.

After all, Kat thought to herself, there was little chance that anything worse could happen today.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten Years Before_

"If you think I'm going to apologize-" Kat started but was cut off by the eighties glamor rock wannabe.

"No. It is not required." Jareth responded stiffly, "There is another serious matter that has come up."

"What?" The halfling asked, confused, and somewhat surprised that Jareth was not angry after the scene she made.

"One of my _guests_ at the ball is requesting to meet you personally." He explained. Judging by the was he spoke, he clearly disliked the person.

"Who?" Kat questioned.

"The Queen of Moraine." Jareth told her with disgust.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke_

The small family were having dinner. It was noting spectacular, just hamburgers and fries, but they enjoyed it nonetheless. They were halfway through their respective meals when Kat's phone started to ring.

"Who's that?" Kat muttered before digging her phone out of her pocket. Once she had retrieved the device, she looked at the screen and saw that it was Red calling. Curious, the brunette answered and put the phone to her ear. "Hello? … Ruby, slow down! I can't understand you, what did you say?" The rest of the woman's family shared confused and somewhat worried glances. The last time Red had called it was to tell them about Archie's death. "An accident? … What? … Oh my… Is she alright?... Why do I feel like there is 'but' at the end of that statement. … She-She crossed town lines. She doesn't recall anything." A few moments later, the two woman said their goodbyes and Kat hung up the phone.

"What's wrong?" Jefferson asked, looking at his wife in concern. Having heard part of the conversation, he knew that someone had went past town lines, a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone, and since Red had called Kat, it must have been someone she was friends with.

"Belle, she was shot by some pirate named Hook." Kat told them, "And apparently she was right by the town border. The force of the shot caused her to cross it and… lose her memories."

"Is there anyway for her to get her memories back, mama?" Grace asked. From the few times that she had met the librarian, Grace had come to like the woman.

"I don't know if there is, Grace." Kat sighed, shaking her head sadly.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Ten Years Before  
__**  
**_**POP**

Kat coughed as she and Jareth materialized in his castle, glitter falling around them. The teen quickly wiped away all the glitter, not wanting to be covered in the stuff. As she did that, she didn't notice Jareth walking off.

"Come along, Katrin." The Goblin King called out over his shoulder.

"Don't call me that!" The teen snapped before following the man, muttering all the way.

Soon enough, the two ended up in the throne room. Upon entering the room, Kat immediately noticed three females in the room. The woman in the middle was pale and blue tinged. She had pale blue hair and eyes, and a tear-shaped mark beneath her lips. She wore an elaborate, high-collared robe with some sort of crown and matching earrings. On her left was a younger-looking woman. She had dark blue eyes and hair, which was set in pigtails, and wore a dark blue robe. On her face was a pale blue marking, going over her left eye. The odd thing though was that she had an open umbrella, which she used to keep herself dry from her personal rain cloud, and that was not a metaphor at all. On the right of the pale woman was a rather _large_ girl. Much like the girl on the left, she too had dark blue eyes and hair, though her pigtails were wrapped so they stuck straight out, and wore blue ropes. She, however, also had gold hoop earrings and black gloves.

"I was starting to wonder what was taking so long." The woman in the middle said upon noticing their entrance.

"My apologizes." Jareth stated though he obviously did not mean it. He then led the teen over to the three guests. Once they got to them, the king turned towards his child. "Katrin," He started, ignoring the glare he received from the girl, "May I introduce you to Queen Mizumi of Moraine, and her daughters Moulin and Drumlin."

"Ah," Mizumi gasped lightly, "So this is Jareth's _daughter_." Normally Kat would flinch at being called that, she did not consider herself to be related to Jareth, but the way Mizumi said it, made Kat think that their was enough resentment for that title already.

"It's nice to meet you," Kat said, trying her best to be polite, "I'm Kat."

"Mizumi has offered to teach you magic in my stead." Jareth stated blankly.

"What?" Kat blinked, surprised, "Why?" Glancing at Mizumi, she quickly added, "No offence taken, but I thought Jareth was going to teach me."

"There are some serious matters I need to attend to." Jareth explained, "The goblins are revolting, more so then usual."

"…" Kat had no comment for that, though she was curious as to what exactly was going on.

"As I will be busy stopping the rebellion, Mizumi shall teach you in my stead."

"Alright." Kat nodded, though she felt something off in her gut every time she looked at Mizumi.

"Tomorrow, as the sun set behind the walls of the Labyrinth, meet me at the top of the North tower." Mizumi told the girl, "That is where your lessons begins."

"Wait just a minute." Kat started, "I don't live here, I commute from New York. How the frick am I supposed to know if I show up on time?"

"That is none of my concern." Mizumi stated before turning around, "Come, girls. Our business for the day is over. Let us return to our rooms."

Kat watched as the three walked away, the strange feeling in her gut not once disappearing, even after Mizumi was no longer in her eyesight.

* * *

Before anyone asks, Mizumi and her daughters are not OCs. They are actually from the manga sequel to Labyrinth titled Return to Labyrinth. (Of course, because of the plot of that series, and the fact that I started to create Kat before I had even heard of the manga, it isn't really a part of this story.) Mizumi, at least, shall be antagonistic towards Kat, though most of the flashbacks with her will probably not be until season 3. (Though there will be a few more for the rest of this season.)

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. I'm glad you liked the punch, I was afraid that it would be too random. The person who was watching her was Mizumi. (Jareth has one brown and one green eye. The Underground scenes, currently, are from before Kat ever reached the Enchanted Forest and she hasn't even met Hook yet, and Hook was probably in the Enchanted Forest or Neverland at the time.)

I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated!


	32. Chapter 32: If You Go Chasing Rabbits

Chapter 32: If You Go Chasing Rabbits

_Storybrooke_

Kat hummed to herself as she cooked pancakes, obviously using a premade batter instead of a home-made batch.

"What has you all cheery this morning?" Jefferson asked upon entering the room.

"Besides the fact that I haven't caused the pancakes to spontaneously combust?" Kat responded jokingly, causing her husband to chuckle, "Me and Ruby are going to go visit Belle later today. Try to cheer her up."

"There won't be anything you can do to cheer her up." He sighed, "She's no longer the Belle who you knew."

"I know." She muttered, looking down at the stove, "Even so, I would like to get to know this version of her."

"You may not like who she is now." He warned. He had seen it in several of the townsfolk who he had met in the Enchanted Forest, there were some who were _vastly_ different when they were cursed.

"Considering how some of the people in the Underground act, I doubt that there is anything she can do to disturb me."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Underground_

The teen huffed and puffed as she leant against the stonewall, exhausted from the lessons.

"Tired already?" Mizumi's haughty voice called out over the girl's head, causing her to groan, "We've hardly begun."

"Look, lady," Kat started, too tired to give a damn about possibly causing a war between Mizumi's land and the goblins, "I'm new at this. I only figured out recently how to summon up my magic. So will ya chill?"

"Hmph." Mizumi scoffed, "How rude, you must get that from that distressing mother of yours."

Not something that she should have said to the anger-prone teenager.

"_**OI**_!" Kat's head reared up, her eyes showing only the anger she was feeling at that moment, "I don't know what your fucking deal is and I could give a rat's ass as to what it is. Leave my mother out of it." Unknown to her, a small amount of flames had erupted around the two, and there were a few extra cracks forming in the ground. "If I hear you make even the slightest remark about her I'll-"

"_Silence_." Mizumi uttered as she held up a hand. All of a sudden, the words that were spilling out of Kat's mouth suddenly took form and slipped into Mizumi's hand, which she immediately closed.

Startled, Kat tried to scream and shout, but nothing was coming out. She was about to go forward at the Queen, but the Water Witch held up her other hand. Wary of what the woman would do, Kat stopped and just looked at the woman in suspicion.

"Look at what you did in your anger." Mizumi said, gesturing to the still burning embers and new cracks in the stone, "You have such great potential. Once you learn to harness it, that is." The Queen of Cups then released her other hand, allowing Kat's words to flow back into her mouth.

"Why are you doing this?" Kat asked once she finally got her voice back, "It's clear that you dislike me, for what reason exactly I am not sure. So why did you offer to help me."

"Because" Mizumi smirked, "you are _Jareth's_ child."

For some reason, that did not seem to be the right answer to Kat, nor did it settle her feelings.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Storybrooke_

Belle was watching television in a common room at the hospital when Kat and Red entered with a basket of items.

"Hey. You don't remember us, do you?" Red asked politely when the two neared their friend.

"Sorry," Belle apologized, "no, I… I don't."

"I'm Ruby and she's Kat. You used to come into my Granny's diner a lot. Before." Red told her, "I thought you could use some comforts from home. You were always telling me about Jules Verne, so I brought you my favorite – The Mysterious Island."

"Thank you. Were… Were we really friends?" Belle asked tepidly.

"Yeah, we were." Kat nodded, "We used to hang out a lot in out spare time."

"Then tell me the truth. Before I was brought here, I was hurt. I was bleeding, and then this man came. And he… He healed me." Belle began to sound frantic as she explained what she saw, "Then, I saw him hold a ball of fire in his hands. How… How is that possible?!"

"The nurse said that the tranquilizers can give you wicked nightmares." The werewolf tried to play it off.

"No, I know what I saw. And I don't need any more tranquilizers or-" Belle started to rant, but the twenty-seven year-old cut her off.

"Belle…" Kat started, trying to comfort the poor girl.

"Don't call me that." Belle snapped, now hysterical, "Why does everyone keep calling me that?" As the poor girl went wild, a nurse ran in to restrain the distressed girl. "I don't… I'm telling you, I don't…" She cried out.

"Take it easy. Take it easy." The nurse tried to soothe her as she sits Belle down in a chair before injecting her with a sedative.

"Has she been like this the whole time?" Kat asked, concerned.

"More or less." The nurse sighed. "We've had to keep her heavily sedated. Okay, let's get you back to bed."

"No…" Belle muttered as the sedative took effect.

"Here we go. There." The nurse muttered as she began to escort Belle out of the room.

The Halfling and the werewolf shared a worried glance before noticing that the man from the car crash in the room, apparently having seen Belle's outburst.

"Everything okay in here?" He asked.

"Everything's fine, Mr. Mendell." Red stated, clearly not liking this man, "She's alright. How are you?"

"Much improved." He responded.

"Well, then, rest up. The sooner you're better, the sooner you can be out of our quiet little town." Red stated before turning to Kat, "I'm going to head back to the diner, are you working soon?"

"No." Kat shook her head, "I gotta pick up Grace and Kyle from school soon."

"Okay." Red nodded, "I'll see you later then."

"See you later." Kat waved goodbye to her friend as she watched the woman walk out of the room and towards the exit of the hospital.

Kat then began to take her cell phone out, intent on calling Jefferson, when she got a chill up her spine. Glancing behind her, she saw that the guy was still in the room and was watching her.

"Yes?" She questioned, a bit concerned about why he was watching her.

"Sorry, you have a slight accent." The man said, "I take it you are not from around here."

"I'm originally from New York." Kat said, though she still felt uneasy about this man.

"I hope you don't mind, but I was wondering if I could ask you something then."

"Sure, not a problem." She shrugged, not seeing much of a problem with answering a question.

"Have you noticed anything _strange_ in this town?"

"Strange how?"

"Like things that shouldn't even exist, or not possible. Almost like… _magic_."

Kat stiffened at his remark, though she made sure to not make it too obvious to him that she was affected by his words. "No, sorry, never seen anything like that." She laughed.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Kat responded, a bit tense now, "If you'll excuse me, I need to go."

The woman couldn't have gotten out of there quick enough. She didn't know why this man wanted to know about magic, but it was probably bad news for all.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

After picking up her brother and daughter from their respective schools, Kat found herself in the forest, a foil in her grasp. After that encounter with Mr. Medell, Kat needed to get rid of some stress, and nothing better to get rid of her stress, besides using magic that she still refused to do at the moment, than practicing her fencing technique.

Making sure that she was in a decent sized clearing and that there was no one around to accidently hit, the brunette began with a lunge.

She had no clue how long she was out there practicing. She did not even realize that night had begun until Jefferson came to find her. Even so, the woman felt much better at the moment, though she got the feeling that things were going to get worse soon enough.

* * *

**Please read, important notice about this story.** First of all, I'm very sorry that I didn't post this on Tuesday. Normally I add the next chapter to the doc manager the day I post a chapter. (ex. post ch 30, I add ch 31 to doc manager) Somehow it slipped my mind to to do that and, then last Friday(6/7) my laptop completely freaked out on me during the middle of class. I had to take a cab on Tuesday before class to my local mac repair shop to get it fixed (as they will do what they can to SAVE your files, unlike Apple) and it is still in the shop. The only reason I am able to post this chapter is because I had put it on my amazon cloud.

As I do not know when I'll get my laptop back, which has a few more chapters already written out._ I am putting this story on a temporary hiatus._ Once I get my laptop back, I'll start posting again. But, to make up for it, I'll start posting a different story. This story will be based on this fanfiction but will be just a collection of drabbles and/or one shots. They will all be different (some being about Kat before she ended up in the Enchanted Forest, some about Cait or Faline, some about Jefferson, some about Grace, some about Kyle, some about Jefferson, Kat and Grace) and there will not be any set schedule for them. It all depends on how fast I write them out.

**End of important notice**

Thank you, kykyxstandler, for the review. Eventually the reason that she has a bad feeling about Mizumi shall be revealed. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, despite the lateness for it.

Thank you, , for the review. I'm glad you are enjoying this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well, despite the lateness for it.

Thank you, Miss Jackson Grayson-Barton, for the review. Yeah, it is a bit freaky, though thankfully Grace doesn't really notice or act like her REAL age. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, despite the lateness for it.


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